SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung says 2027 will be the worst year in the memory industry's history for supply, and he expects demand to stay above capacity even beyond 2030. That points to sustained pressure on prices for phones, PCs, and consoles built around DRAM.
- SK Hynix is one of the big three DRAM suppliers alongside Samsung and Micron, so this is an industry-wide problem, not a single-company one.
- Micron's CEO expects the shortage to last through 2027 and ease in 2028, while UBS sees undersupply until at least Q2 2028.
- One dissenting view: Bloomberg Intelligence argues the shortage may have already peaked in Q2 2026, with possible oversupply by 2028.
- Apple, HP, Dell, and Lenovo have already raised prices on devices, citing the memory crunch.
If you were hoping the memory chip squeeze would blow over soon, the head of one of the world’s biggest DRAM makers would like a word. SK Hynix chief executive Kwak Noh-jung told Reuters that the global memory industry is heading into “the worst year in the industry’s history from the supply perspective” in 2027, and he doesn’t expect demand to drop below capacity until well after 2030.
The comments landed on the same day SK Hynix began trading on Nasdaq, which tells you a lot about how the market values a company that can’t make chips fast enough.
The Memory Chip Crunch Gets Worse: SK Hynix Boss Warns 2027 Will Be the Industry’s Worst Year Ever
The problem is DRAM, the memory that goes into practically everything with a screen, plus the AI data centres currently hoovering up most of the world’s supply. “Our customer demand continues to go up, while our capacity has limitations,” Kwak said in the Reuters interview.
SK Hynix sits alongside Samsung and Micron as one of the big three DRAM suppliers, so when its CEO says supply can’t keep pace, it isn’t a company-specific hiccup. It’s the outlook for the entire memory market that feeds smartphones, laptops, and gaming hardware. The same crunch has already prompted speculation that the PlayStation 6 could slip to 2029 as AI demand soaks up chip capacity.
Not everyone agrees on the timeline
Kwak’s forecast is the most pessimistic on the table, but it’s worth seeing how the other predictions stack up.
| Who | Forecast |
|---|---|
| SK Hynix (CEO Kwak Noh-jung) | Worst year in history in 2027; demand outstrips supply beyond 2030 |
| Micron (CEO Sanjay Mehrotra) | Shortage lasts through 2027, eases in 2028 |
| UBS | DRAM industry undersupplied until at least Q2 2028 |
| Bloomberg Intelligence (Shuli Ren) | Shortage may have peaked in Q2 2026; possible oversupply by 2028 |
The outlier is Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Shuli Ren, who argues the shortage likely peaked in the second quarter of 2026 and that conditions could ease through late 2026 and 2027, potentially flipping to oversupply in 2028. That would be genuinely good news for buyers, but it’s one analyst against two memory CEOs and a major investment bank, so temper your optimism accordingly.
Your wallet has already noticed
Whichever forecast proves right, the damage to device pricing is well underway. Apple has raised prices on Macs, iPads, and more, citing the memory crunch, while HP, Dell, and Lenovo have announced their own increases. Nothing CEO Carl Pei went as far as telling consumers that the best time to buy a smartphone was “yesterday”, advice that aged uncomfortably well once Apple’s price rises followed.
There’s also a legal wrinkle worth watching: Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron are being sued over alleged memory price-fixing, which adds an awkward backdrop to CEOs publicly forecasting years of tight supply and rising prices.
If SK Hynix is right, the pattern of pricier phones, laptops, and consoles won’t be a blip. If you’ve been putting off an upgrade in the hope prices settle down, 2027 doesn’t sound like the year that happens.
FAQ
What did the SK Hynix CEO say about the memory shortage?
SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung told Reuters that 2027 will be the worst year in the memory industry's history from a supply perspective, and that customer demand will remain higher than the company's capacity even beyond 2030.
Why is there a DRAM shortage?
AI data centres are absorbing most of the available DRAM supply amid the AI boom, while manufacturing capacity at the big three suppliers, SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron, can't keep pace with demand.
Will the memory shortage make phones and PCs more expensive?
It already has. Apple has raised prices on Macs, iPads, and other products citing the memory crunch, and HP, Dell, and Lenovo have announced price hikes of their own. If the shortage runs to 2027 and beyond, further increases are likely.
Does everyone agree the shortage will last until 2030?
No. Micron's CEO expects the shortage to ease in 2028, and UBS sees undersupply until at least Q2 2028. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Shuli Ren is more optimistic, arguing the shortage may have peaked in Q2 2026 and could flip to oversupply by 2028.