SK Hynix CEO sees memory chip shortage lasting until 2030

drob518 36 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

New title: SK Hynix CEO is desperate for memory chip shortage to last until 2030 or longer

Fixed it for you.

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2OEH8eoCRo0 27 minutes ago | parent [-]

SK hynix CEO compelled by CEO obligations to paint a rosy and sustainable picture of memory chip demand.

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Aloha 11 minutes ago | parent [-]

I dont think he's wrong.

Dell is making moves to introduce server grade hardware without ECC memory.

There is plenty of DDR5, its not even very expensive, its DDR5-ECC where the prices go stratospheric.

	▲	2OEH8eoCRo0 5 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		The point is that he must say this either way. If he expected demand to decline next year do you think he would come out and say that?

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PowerElectronix 37 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

He could just have said "lasting forever and ever".

It's ram chips, the bottom of the barrel of semi manufacturing. If you get high prices for long enough, everyone is gonna jump into the market.

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potus_kushner 20 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

especially if they get away unpunished for their price fixing. https://web.archive.org/web/20260701064235/https://www.polyg...

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throw234259 15 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

> everyone is gonna jump into the market

Whom exactly? Korea and Taiwan are already saturated. EU may take 5 yearrs just to approve plans formnew factory. US is interested in super fast super duper AIG, ddr5 is way too boring.

Only competitor is mainlaind china!

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geodel 9 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

But for now can't EU regulate the RAM price? They seem to be able to do what they want.

	▲	fidotron 4 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		It's great how these days it's so much harder to tell if this is a joke.

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worldofmatthew 13 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

> mainlaind china

Exactly. China wil push for it as China factories will supply Chinese AI first.

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mey an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

No projections/information/analysis. The statement from someone with a vested interest in this demand lasting an extended period of time (including the statement that demand will continue past 2030).

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thijson an hour ago | parent | next [-]

I remember in the 90's there was some sort of shortage reportedly due to fires. In the end it was found the shortage was due to collusion by the manufacturers.

https://share.google/aimode/ewJpwCHUINOHzjBVg

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nubinetwork an hour ago | parent | next [-]

It did happen in the early 2010s though https://www.crn.com/news/storage/231902425/thailand-floods-t...

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ChiperSoft an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Oh its probably that again

https://www.polygon.com/ram-manufacturers-sued-supply-price-...

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xattt an hour ago | parent [-]

Is the thing that’s different now that the colluders are banking on is that we are in a worldwide kleptocracy?

	▲	toast0 11 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		After the first two times, do they even need to collude? Can't they count on each other doing the profitable thing? Especially when they PR it: > Furthermore, focused investment in HBM is creating a virtuous cycle that improves profitability in the general-purpose memory market. As resources are diverted to HBM, the supply-demand balance for general DRAM is improving. January 5, 2026 - SK hynix market outlook. https://news.skhynix.com/en/2026-market-outlook-focus-on-the...
	▲	voidfunc 30 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Yep

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high_na_euv an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

But fortunely today we know that there is huge demand due to AI

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FLeXMurphy 41 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

Assume the person knows something you don't.

	▲	mey 31 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		They know many things I don't. I can easily assume they have a specific reason to make a public statement that is within their interests. Without any reports/prospectus/booked contracts, it's just marketing/spin.

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marcosscriven 8 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

What are the limiting factors here?

Clearly it’s the fabrication of RAM/HBM chips. But if the margin is so high, why can’t other fabs like CPU fabs be used? I assume they’re not as CPU prices are going down. Or are they radically different and not easily reconfigured?

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Taqas 5 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Given economy of scale, on the long-term can we expect lower than 2019 RAM prices?

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alephnerd 20 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Honestly surprised by the degree of skepticism about this on HN.

The rack assemblers like Dell, HPE, Supermicro, and Lenovo have 18 to 24 month backlogs on deliveries at the moment, and even the neoclouds have 6-9 month backlogs to onboard customers onto their SaaS platforms.

Also, 2030 is barely 3 years away from now as 2027 is around the corner. Yes we are ALL old now.

Using priors from 2015-2019 is the equivalent of thinking your experience in 1995-1999 should inform decisions made in 2008-2013.

	▲	vlucas 17 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Same. There is huge, real demand for memory and storage everywhere you look. New capacity takes 3-5 years to come online. Every vendor has completely sold out capacity and is backlogged on top of that. This 5-year estimate is actually pretty realistic to me. I think we are stuck with high prices on these components for at least the next 3 years, minimum.
	▲	xnx 14 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Agree. Also lots of suppressed demand at current prices. If prices return to anything like pre-AI, demand would grow dramatically.

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fakedang 9 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Memory chip shortage lasting *until China floods the market with their cheaper but rigged chips.

FTFY. At the rate China's moving on this, it won't be long till they get a stranglehold on the consumer chip market.

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catigula an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Aren't they printing unlimited money from this? I'm sure the chip shortage lasts as long as they're capable of extending it without falling to competitors.

That's the problem with monopolies.