The global memory shortage is not just a boring data centre problem anymore. According to SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won, the industry risks pushing customers into a very different mindset if DRAM supply does not catch up: instead of buying more memory, they may redesign systems to use less of it.
That is a pretty big warning coming from the top of SK Group, which oversees SK hynix — one of the world’s major memory makers alongside Samsung and Micron.
Right now, demand for DRAM is being driven heavily by AI. Hyperscalers and AI accelerator companies, including names like NVIDIA and AMD, are trying to secure as much memory as possible for massive data centre buildouts. Training large AI models and running huge inference workloads need a ridiculous amount of GPU and CPU memory, especially as model sizes climb into the tens of trillions of parameters.
The source report notes that even hosting a single huge model for just a small number of users can require hundreds of gigabytes of system memory. Multiply that across data centres, cloud platforms, and AI services, and suddenly everyone is fighting for the same DRAM supply.
For regular Malaysian consumers, this matters because memory is not isolated to server farms. The same pressure can eventually flow into gaming PCs, laptops, handhelds, GPUs, workstations, and even local cloud infrastructure. If manufacturers have to compete harder for DRAM, the cheap RAM upgrade deals we normally wait for on Shopee or Lazada may become less generous. Laptop configs could also get stingier, with brands pushing 16GB models longer while higher-memory versions cost noticeably more.
The awkward part is that memory makers are already selling available DRAM months in advance, but they are still cautious about expanding too aggressively. That sounds strange at first — if demand is gila strong, why not just build more fabs? The answer is timing. New memory fabrication capacity takes years to come online, and companies do not want to overbuild just as demand cools down.
Chey’s point is basically this: if suppliers cannot provide enough memory, customers will stop waiting forever. Big AI companies may start optimising infrastructure and software to run with much lower memory usage. Once that happens, some of the current demand could disappear or become more efficient, which makes long-term expansion planning even trickier.
SK hynix is not sitting still, though. The company has reportedly ordered around 20 Low-NA EUV machines from ASML as part of its expansion plan. These tools should help future memory production and may also support storage manufacturing once they are fully operational. But none of this is instant. Extra capacity from major semiconductor equipment orders still takes years to translate into real chips shipping at scale.
So for now, the memory market stays tight.
For gamers and PC builders in Malaysia, the practical takeaway is simple: do not panic-buy, but do pay attention. If you already planned to upgrade to 32GB RAM for gaming, streaming, or content work, waiting forever for a huge price crash might not be the smartest move. For businesses, studios, and AI startups in SEA, memory availability could become a serious planning issue, not just a line item in a hardware quote.
AI is eating memory at a crazy pace. The question now is whether the DRAM industry can feed that demand before customers learn to survive on less.
Source: TechPowerUp