The outlook regarding the supply of memory and storage components has been discussed by various stakeholders—from leading device brands to the manufacturers themselves—with a general consensus that memory supply constraints and high prices will persist for several more years.
Now, SK Hynix—currently the world’s largest manufacturer of memory components—has shared its perspective during a recent financial presentation. The company indicated that these issues are likely to continue until at least 2030, even as it proceeds with the development of new memory production facilities in South Korea and other locations.
According to SK Hynix, the productivity gains driven by AI adoption have permeated various sectors—such as software development, customer service, and search—leading companies to build more data centers that leverage AI technology to accelerate the development of new systems. This, in turn, ensures that SK Hynix will need to maintain high production volumes of memory components, even after market demand eventually stabilizes.
Although the company is in the process of constructing additional manufacturing plants, it noted that current production capacity remains insufficient to meet the existing market demand for memory. Consequently, they anticipate that demand will consistently outpace production until at least 2030.
The majority of the production capacity for these memory components for 2027 and 2028 has already been secured by AI component manufacturers; SK Hynix has confirmed the signing of 14 long-term agreements with existing partners, all of whom have expressed an intention to extend these contracts beyond their current expiration dates.
In addition to developing new production facilities, SK Hynix intends to shift its focus toward the production of HBM4 memory—which is expected to surpass HBM3E production by the end of the fourth quarter of this fiscal year—while also prioritizing the manufacture of DDR5 and LPDDR5 SOCAMM memory for future data center applications.
