SK Hynix Chairman Chey Tae-won said in a recent media interview at the company’s headquarters in South Korea that demand from the AI ecosystem has already outpaced the company’s memory supply capacity. According to Chey, customers are now asking for shipment volumes close to double their previous demand, reflecting what he described as an explosive jump in memory consumption tied to AI computing.
Chey said expanding production capacity could take four to five years, while competition for memory chips has become so intense that he compared it to a war. He added that without sufficient memory, customers cannot produce AI computing equipment or AI chips. He also said demand for AI servers continues to surge, leaving high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, in short supply. Some large technology companies, he said, have even traveled to South Korea in advance to lock in long-term agreements.
Chey warned that next year could bring the worst memory shortage on record. He also compared today’s AI industry to a four-year-old child and said memory demand is likely to climb sharply as the sector matures. In his view, usage of AI agents could increase 77 times over the next five years.
SK Hynix Chairman Chey Tae-won said in a recent media interview at the company’s headquarters in South Korea that AI-driven demand for memory has already exceeded the company’s ability to supply it. He also warned that next year could see the most severe memory shortage on record.
Customers are asking for nearly twice as much supply
Chey said memory demand is expanding at an explosive pace. In his words, 「demand right now is explosive,」 and 「all of my customers are asking for supply volumes close to twice what they used to need.」
He said customers cannot produce AI computing equipment and AI chips without enough memory.
HBM remains tight and capacity expansion will take years
Chey said demand for AI servers continues to surge, leaving HBM, or high-bandwidth memory, in short supply. He added that some major technology companies have even gone to South Korea ahead of time to secure long-term agreements.
He said expanding output could take four to five years and described the scramble among companies for memory chips as 「like a war.」
Chey sees AI agent usage rising 77-fold in five years
Chey compared the current state of AI to a four-year-old child and said memory demand will rise sharply as the industry matures. He also predicted that usage of AI agents could grow 77 times over the next five years.
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