Memory chip inventories at South Korea's largest manufacturers — Samsung Electronics and SK hynix — have fallen to critically low levels. According to Business Korea, citing Kim Dong-won, head of the KB Securities research center, the companies had less than ten days' worth of inventory remaining in the third quarter.
Kim Dong-won warns that such low inventory levels could lead to further market turmoil. In his assessment, DDR5 and enterprise SSD supplies are becoming particularly vulnerable, as memory manufacturers are forced to allocate more and more resources to AI-related orders.
The situation could become even more complex in 2027, when HBM4 begins to spread more widely. The new generation of memory requires even greater production resources compared to its predecessors, so further growth in demand for AI infrastructure could exacerbate the shortage of conventional memory.
The problem is already extending beyond individual manufacturers. NVIDIA previously stated that memory shortages could remain a limiting factor for the company's growth until early 2028. NVIDIA CFO Colette Kress also noted extremely high memory prices and expected them to continue to rise next year.