SK Group chief warns memory shortage to peak next year, driving up prices of everything

SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won has warned that the memory chip shortage will intensify and reach its peak next year, pushing up prices of virtually all devices that rely on the component. Speaking to CNBC, he described the current supply-demand imbalance as a "wartime-like situation."

According to the SK Group chief, major customers are already demanding that subsidiary SK hynix double its memory shipments compared with this year's levels. However, manufacturers simply cannot scale production fast enough to keep up: expanding fabrication capacity takes four to five years. Even with maximum effort, SK hynix is falling short of market needs, and the gap is expected to become most acute in 2026.

Chey noted that demand for memory will grow across multiple segments rather than being concentrated in a single one. The AI boom is raising memory requirements not only in smartphones but also in PCs, wearables, and other hardware platforms. Numerous AI agents will run on a wide variety of devices, and all of them will need more memory. Unfortunately, rising memory prices are fueling broader inflation, ultimately affecting end consumers.