SK Hynix expects AI demand to stabilize memory chip cycles

The memory chip industry has always been a rollercoaster. Demand surges, manufacturers overbuild, prices crash, everyone panics, and then the cycle repeats. SK Hynix, the South Korean chipmaker that controls somewhere between 50% and 70% of the high-bandwidth memory market, thinks AI might finally break that pattern. The company’s thesis is straightforward: generative AI requires so much memory, and the infrastructure buildout is so sustained, that the traditional boom-bust dynamics simply cannot assert themselves in the usual way. It’s less a prediction and more a statement of current reality, given that SK Hynix has already sold out its entire 2026 memory lineup in advance. A shortage with no clear end date CEO Kwak Noh-jung has warned that the global memory chip sector faces what he describes as its most severe shortage ever, with demand projected to significantly outpace supply through 2027. The company’s own projections suggest the imbalance could persist beyond 2030. SK Hynix plans to double its memory production capacity over the next five years. Even that might not be enough. Company executives have noted that customer feedback suggests these expansions could still fall sho...