The RAM memory shortage will last for the next few years: only 60% of demand will be covered by the end of 2027

The technology sector is experiencing a shortage of RAM that mainly affects consumption, and will force product prices to rise, as some manufacturers have already anticipated.

This is due, in part, to the high demand for artificial intelligence (AI), which is causing technology companies to prioritize the manufacturing and supply of high-performance memory for data centers, instead of RAM for consumption.

In this framework, although the main manufacturers in the sector such as Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron, which account for close to 90 percent of global market production, are working to increase memory production with new manufacturing plants, the process will take time and it is expected that they will only be able to cover 60 percent of demand by the end of next year, as Nikkei Asia has learned.

In the case of Samsung Electronics, it plans to launch its fourth memory manufacturing plant in South Korea during this year, however, will not reach large-scale mass production until at least 2027.

In addition, the aforementioned media has indicated that this new plant will also manufacture computing chips, along with memory chips, which translates into a decrease in its capacity to increase production exclusively of RAM.

Following this line, Samsung is also building a fifth memory manufacturing plant, but this will be dedicated to the manufacturing of advanced high-bandwidth memory (HBM), which is based on a type of DRAM memory used for semiconductors for AI. In this case, operations will begin in 2028.

The manufacturer SK Hynix, for its part, has also opted for the production of HBM memory and already has a production factory in South Korea that began operating in February, thus being the only company that will increase production in 2026 among the three mentioned manufacturers. However, from the aforementioned media they point out that it is also working on the construction of a new plant that will be completed in February 2027, three months ahead of schedule.

To all this we must add that Micron intends to begin the production of HBM memories in its plants in the United States and Singapore during the next year 2027. It will also begin to build a factory in Japan in May of this year, although it will begin mass production in 2028.

It is worth remembering that in January Micron announced its intentions to prioritize AI demand before consumer demand.after abandoning the Crucial brand, focused on DRAM computer memories, with the aim of dedicating its resources to manufacturing memories for data centers and AI.

Therefore, although major manufacturers are already working on increasing memory production, most of their efforts will not be operational until next year at the earliest, and will focus primarily on HBM memory. This means that the momentum is not enough and, therefore, the RAM shortage crisis will continue for the next few years.

Even memory for AI will also be affected, according to SK Group president Chey Tae-won, who has pointed out that supply limitations in AI memory may continue until 2030.

To put it in perspective, according to data collected by Counterpoint Research and also collected by Nikkei Asia, To resolve the memory shortage, industrial production growth of 12 percent annually should be achieved in 2026 and 2027. However, taking into account the current plans mentioned, production is estimated to only grow by 7.5 percent.

Other companies, such as Dell, have also warned about the RAM shortage crisis that the technology sector is going through. Specifically, its CEO Michael Dell has already predicted that it will not have an end in the short term and that “we are still in the early stages.”

Meanwhile, relevant manufacturers in the consumer market, such as Microsoft or Sony, have already announced an increase in the price of their Surface devices and PlayStation 5 consoles, respectively.

Valve also recently warned that the memory shortage will affect the availability of its Steam Deck portable game console, indicating that it may be out of stock in some regions.