"We forecast that next year will be the worst year in the industry's history from the supply perspective," SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-Jung told Reuters in a recent interview. Yes, it seems that even with wafer supply and manufacturing expected to grow by around 12% in 2027, it's still nowhere near enough to meet the growing demand.
Especially when it comes to non-HBM DRAM, the memory that finds its way into consumer tech like laptops, desktops, and mobile devices. Most of the growth is expected to be driven by increased HBM production for AI and data centers, as demand for DRAM is expected to surge to new heights. Basically, an already dire situation for the consumer technology market is expected to get worse. And to make matters worse, 2028 isn't looking any better.
Popular Now: PS5 emulator running GTA 5 shows GTA 6 might be possible on PC before official release"Our customer demand continues to go up, while our capacity has limitations," Kwak Noh-Jung added. "We still forecast that customer demand will remain higher than our supply capacity even beyond 2030. But we are doing our best to solve the problem."
"Doing our best" most likely relates to expanded manufacturing, with SK hynix looking to external locations like the United States, Japan, and Southeast Asia as potential candidates for new fabrication plants. Alongside Samsung, SK hynix is one of the biggest players in the memory space. As both companies are located in South Korea, they're actually working with the South Korean government to double memory chip production in the country within the next five years.
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Of course, this doesn't change the current situation where double-digit growth in demand is putting a strain on all memory production. This in turn has led to dramatic price increases that have now found their way into all corners of the tech industry. Basically, any device with DRAM or memory is affected.
