The memory shortage will last until 2030, SK Hynix says

SK Hynix is warning that the memory crunch may not ease for years. The company said the global shortage could stretch through 2030, which would keep pressure on electronics makers and data center operators that rely on these chips.

The South Korean supplier, the world’s second-largest memory chip maker, just posted its biggest quarter on record. Revenue reached 104.6 trillion Korean won, or $78.1 billion, up 32% from the previous quarter. Operating profit hit 83.3 trillion won, or $62.1 billion, rising 38% quarter-on-quarter.

A big part of that surge came from demand for advanced memory, especially high-bandwidth memory, the HBM used with AI accelerators. SK Hynix supplies HBM to Nvidia, and it said it has already locked in long-term deals covering more than half of its production capacity for 2027 and 2028.

The company is also spending heavily to keep up. It plans to invest at least 40 trillion won, or $30 billion, on capacity this year, up from roughly 30 trillion won, or $23 billion, in 2025. At the same time, it said the shortage is squeezing margins for electronics manufacturers, making it harder for smartphone, PC and game console makers to avoid raising prices.

There was plenty of cash to share, too. SK Hynix said it now expects to return 100 trillion won, or $75 billion, to shareholders, building on a previously announced 40 trillion won buyback. Much of that money comes from one-off gains tied to its stake in Kioxia, Toshiba’s former memory chipmaking division.

Investors liked the tone. SK Hynix shares in Korea rose 10.9% on Wednesday after the report, while Samsung Electronics rose 9% ahead of its own earnings. But the stock is still down by just over 50% from its mid-year peak, a reminder that the market is still worried AI spending could cool if data center buildouts keep hitting bottlenecks.