SK Hynix CEO sees no significant signals of memory downturn, predicts historic supply shortage

SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung has a message for anyone bracing for a memory chip downturn: you’re looking at the wrong data. Speaking during the company’s Nasdaq debut on July 10, the chief executive said he sees no meaningful indicators of a slowdown in the memory semiconductor market, and went a step further by predicting that the supply crunch will only get worse from here. Kwak projected that 2027 could become “the worst year in the industry’s history from the supply perspective,” forecasting a substantial shortage that could persist well beyond 2030. The culprit, predictably, is artificial intelligence. Demand from AI workloads has been swallowing memory capacity faster than chipmakers can build it. A quarter that speaks for itself The numbers behind Kwak’s confidence are difficult to argue with. SK Hynix reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of 79.32 trillion won, a 257% increase year-over-year. That alone would be eye-catching, but the profit line is where things get genuinely staggering. Operating profit hit 60.54 trillion won, up 557% compared to the same period a year ago. That translates to a roughly 76% operating margin. The company expects mid-20% growth in DRAM demand for...