On August 26, according to data from South Korea, the export prices of DRAM (Dynamic Random-Access Memory) in the country have witnessed a significant surge. This increase is primarily attributed to the AI-driven HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) production, which is squeezing the supply of regular memory. Statistics reveal that from August 1 to 20, the unit price of DRAM exports in South Korea soared to US$92,183 per kilogram, marking a 401% year-on-year increase and approximately 12.5 times higher than the low point recorded in January 2023.

Goldman Sachs projects that the DRAM supply gap will reach 5.0% this year and is expected to widen to 5.9% next year. The investment bank believes that the demand for HBM and large-capacity server DRAM, which are essential components for AI servers, is consuming a substantial portion of production capacity. This trend is further tightening the supply of regular DRAM.

TrendForce, a market research firm, predicts that by the end of next year, the wafer input volume used by Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron for HBM production will constitute 30% of the total DRAM wafer input. However, HBM is only expected to account for about 13% of the actual DRAM bit supply. Memory manufacturers caution that the tight supply of DRAM and NAND (another type of memory), driven by AI demand, may persist beyond 2027. SK Hynix has even stated that 2027 could potentially become the "most severe shortage year in the history of the memory industry." Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs anticipates that the supply shortage will continue until 2028.