SK hynix expects memory shortage to last through 2030

What happened

On October 29, 2026, SK hynix said it expects demand for memory to outstrip supply through 2030. The source states the cause: leading-edge processes are technically difficult and new fabs take a long time to build; in the short term demand is being driven by AI for businesses and consumers, and in the longer term by physical AI such as autonomous driving and robotics. The company has signed long-term agreements with 14 major customers, including large cloud service providers; the agreements typically run for five years and use a pricing mechanism that reflects market conditions within a range agreed with each customer, covering more than half of its production capacity for 2027 and 2028. In the third quarter, revenue reached a record KRW 104.6 trillion (about EUR 70.2 billion), up 32% from the previous quarter and more than quadrupled year on year — the first time quarterly revenue passed KRW 100 trillion; operating profit was KRW 83.3 trillion (about EUR 55.9 billion), an 80% operating margin. Growth was driven by a sharp increase in server DDR5 sales as HBM4 shipments began in earnest; in NAND, sales of 321-layer TLC eSSDs for data centres grew. SK hynix will ramp its M15X fab to full capacity by the end of the year to increase HBM4 production and expects HBM4 to overtake HBM3E in both volume and revenue in the fourth quarter; investment is set to increase significantly next year when the first phase of the Yongin cluster goes into full-scale operation, and the company says it will adjust the scale and timing of investment flexibly. It has also dropped plans for an IPO of its NAND subsidiary Solidigm, which had been intended to raise external capital for Solidigm's production expansion, saying current market conditions make it the wrong time.

Impact and signal

Affected components and suppliers

Source and time

Source: Evertiq · 10/29/2026 · View original source