KB Securities, a South Korean brokerage firm, has issued a warning that the inventory levels of memory semiconductors at Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have dwindled to less than a 10-day supply. This alarming trend suggests that significant supply shortages are on the horizon for the coming year. Amid a surge in investments in AI infrastructure, the memory chip market is bracing for severe supply constraints. The industry’s shift towards HBM4 technology has further intensified these supply tensions, as HBM4 necessitates three times the number of wafers compared to traditional DRAM, while production capacity remains limited. Looking ahead, it is anticipated that the demand for DRAM and NAND will outstrip supply by more than 10 percentage points in the upcoming year.
