SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-Jung said the global memory chip shortage will peak in 2027, marking the worst supply shortage in the history of the industry [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. Despite ongoing efforts to expand capacity, he expects demand for memory chips to outstrip supply through at least 2030, possibly extending into the next decade [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8].

Kwak stated, "We predict from a supply perspective, next year will be the worst year in the history of the industry [4]." He added that SK Hynix aims to work closely with the US AI ecosystem, noting, "We need to move to the centre of AI in the US, to collaborate more closely with them and grow together and contribute to the AI ecosystem [1]."

On July 10, 2026, SK Hynix raised $26.5 billion through an American Depositary Receipt offering on Nasdaq, the largest first-time share sale by a foreign company in the US [1, 9, 10, 7]. The company plans to invest the proceeds to expand semiconductor wafer fabs and advanced packaging capacity, including building new fabs in South Korea's Yongin and Gwangju regions [9, 10, 7].

SK Hynix is also evaluating potential fab sites in the United States, Japan, and Southeast Asia, focusing on factors like manufacturing costs, land, electricity, water supply, and technical talent, but no final locations have been chosen yet [1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have jointly committed 400 trillion Korean won to double memory capacity and expand production in Korea over the next five years [10, 5].

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick publicly urged both Samsung and SK Hynix to build more memory chip manufacturing capacity in the US to strengthen supply chains and ease shortages caused by surging AI demand [11, 9]. Lutnick said, "You know, he (the Micron CEO) will not be happy about this, but I want to bring Samsung and SK Hynix to invest in the US [9]."

In response to AI-driven demand, SK Hynix, Samsung, and US rival Micron are aggressively investing in new fabs and packaging facilities globally. However, significant new capacity is expected to come online only after mid-2027 [10]. High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), critical for AI applications, is forecast to remain in tight supply with rising prices through 2027 [3, 10, 7].

Some sources note competition concerns. US-based Micron may resist expansion of Samsung and SK Hynix in the US, and Chinese suppliers like ChangXin and Yangtze Memory could impact market dynamics [9, 3].

Major new memory chip capacity from SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron is scheduled to begin operations by mid-2027 [10]. SK Hynix’s outlook holds that despite expanded production, memory chip demand will continue to exceed supply through 2030 and beyond [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8].