Those hoping to wait out the memory market crisis may need to brace themselves for a long haul.
Screenshots of a document, purported to be an internal analytical report from SK Hynix — one of the largest memory manufacturers — have surfaced online. The materials, published by user BullsLab, indicate that the imbalance in the DRAM market for consumer devices may persist until at least 2028.
According to this analysis, key market players have already reallocated production capacity in favor of AI servers and data centers. These segments offer higher margins, so increasing the production of mass-market DRAM for PCs and laptops is not considered a priority.
The situation is exacerbated by extremely low inventory levels, which, according to sources, remain at historical lows. Manufacturers have deliberately maintained a restrained strategy and avoided sharp increases in volumes to avoid repeating past overproduction scenarios, when memory prices plummeted. As a result, this has only intensified the shortage.
Similar trends are observed in the NAND memory market. The growth in the supply of consumer SSDs may lag behind demand, as server solutions bring companies significantly higher profits.
Collectively, these factors create an unfavorable outlook for the mass user. While it was previously assumed that the DRAM market could return to balance in 2026–2027, current SK Hynix estimates indicate a longer period of tension, which is likely to last almost until the end of the decade.
