SK Hynix Says Memory Shortage Could Persist Through 2030

SK Hynix expects the memory supply shortage to persist through 2030, citing demand growth and the time and technical challenges involved in expanding production. The company shared the forecast in its Q3 2026 results, as reported by TechRadar.

SK Hynix said supply is not keeping pace with market growth. It expects demand to exceed supply through 2030 because leading-edge manufacturing is technically difficult and new production facilities take a long time to build.

The company reported revenue above 100 trillion won in Q3, a first for it in a single quarter, and pointed to enterprise and AI demand as near-term drivers. For the medium to long term, it cited demand for “physical AI,” including autonomous driving and robotics.

Micron has also forecast memory demand from humanoid robots, estimating that each could require 200GB or more of RAM and multiple terabytes of storage. Those are company forecasts; how much demand robots create will depend on how widely they are adopted and how much memory they use.

SK Hynix also expects AI data-center infrastructure investment to keep growing and broaden to include general enterprises and national initiatives. The company’s outlook suggests the memory market could face demand from both AI infrastructure and robotics, though the scale of future demand remains uncertain.