SK Hynix now expects the memory shortage to last until 2030

South Korean memory manufacturer SK Hynix expects the global memory shortage to persist for much longer than initially predicted. In its quarterly report, published on October 28th, the company states that demand for memory is expected to exceed production capacity until 2030.

The primary reason? No surprise: significant investment in AI data centers, which rely on ample amounts of RAM. The widespread and ongoing expansion of data centers will continue to gobble up enormous amounts of memory, while demand is expected to rise further as AI is incorporated into other industries like self-driving vehicles and robots.

Why not produce more memory? Manufacturers are working on it, but it takes several years at minimum to build new semiconductor factories and spin up production to necessary levels. SK Hynix also points out that the actual manufacturing processes for increasingly advanced memory chips have gotten more technically challenging in recent years.