The CEO of a major memory chip maker says 2027 could be the "worst year in the industry's history," and other RAM crisis rumors back up that dire prediction.

SK Hynix boss thinks RAM crisis is going to get much worse
The CEO said that 2027 will be the “worst year” in the history of the RAM industry and that the crisis will likely extend to 2030 and beyond.
The Bank of America analysis also claims that SK Hynix’s memory production capacity expansion will fall well short of its 2028 target.

We keep telling ourselves that the RAM crisis is entrenched as a thing for the foreseeable future, and whether you want it or not, here are a couple more unwanted reminders.

First, Android Headline highlighted a PakGazette interview with Kwak Noh-jung, CEO of SK Hynix, one of the big memory chip makers. The CEO had no comforting words about the RAM price outlook in 2027, noting: “We predict that ‌next year will be the worst year in the world.” [memory] the history of the industry from a supply perspective.”

So next year RAM will apparently reach its peak price, with no relief likely until 2030 (as previously predicted by the chairman of parent company SK Group), according to the CEO, and even then, he suggested demand will continue to outstrip supply as the next decade progresses beyond 2030.

Analysis: Divergent RAM timelines

Intense close-up of RAM on a black background

(Image credit: Unsplash / Liam Briese)

So, it’s bad news from SK Hynix CEO, although of course skeptics will be quick to point out that it’s the chief executive’s job to talk up the company’s value (in terms of a booming market and the struggle to meet demand) after its Nasdaq debut. It should be noted that the share prices of large memory chip makers have been turbulent lately, as investors begin to worry about whether these companies are currently overvalued and, indeed, whether the AI boom could begin to lose momentum.

So, that’s one consideration, but there’s no denying that the SK Hynix boss isn’t the only person making gloomy predictions in this regard. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said he expects the RAM crisis to last “quite a few years,” indicating we’ll be stuck in pricing hell until around 2030, although others don’t see it that way. In the opposite camp we notably have people like an AMD executive, the former head of Samsung’s semiconductor division, and Jefferies, an investment banking firm, who believe that RAM prices will start to fall in 2028.

The problem, however, is that Jefferies is also predicting big memory price increases for the rest of this year, and also into 2027, backing the SK Hynix CEO in that regard. When you consider the huge estimated shortfall in SK Hynix’s increased production capacity based on rumors, things clearly look shakier in the near term for RAM prices.

I also can’t help but remember the swipe Microsoft recently took when talking about Xbox price increases, when the company informed us that it expects to double the cost of RAM again in just over a year (by fall 2027).

While there is a mixed bag in terms of long-term predictions, the outlook for this year and next remains worryingly negative on the RAM front.

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