A global shortage of memory chips is likely to persist another four to five years because of endemic constraints in semiconductor production, SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won said on Monday.
Leading players such as SK Hynix Inc are expanding capacity but they’re unlikely to fully sate demand till around 2030, said Chey, whose company controls the chipmaker. Industry-wide, supply of the basic wafers that get made into chips are lagging demand by more than 20 percent, Chey told reporters on the sidelines of Nvidia Corp’s GTC event in San Jose, California.
SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics Co and Micron Technology Inc together dominate the supply of memory chips globally. The three have shifted production in recent years toward a specialized form of memory intended for use in Nvidia’s in-demand artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators, leading to a shortfall in output of more conventional storage.
Photo: Fred Greaves, Reuters
That deficit is beginning to hammer profits, derail corporate plans and inflate price tags on everything from laptops and smartphones to cars and data centers — and many expect the crunch to worsen before it improves. SK Hynix is preparing to outline measures to help stabilize prices, Chey added, without elaborating.
SK Hynix is still considering a listing of American depositary receipts, Chey said in remarks to reporters in California provided by a company spokesperson. Such a move seen as a way to narrow the valuation gap with global peers such as Micron.
SK Hynix’s shares rose as much as 3.7 percent in Seoul yesterday. Samsung stock also climbed after Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said at the same event the South Korean chipmaker will make a Groq Inc-based AI inference processor, using its 4-nanometer technology.
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