South Korean Brokerage Warns of Memory Chip Shortage at Samsung and SK Hynix

KB Securities reports that memory chip inventories at Samsung Electronics (005930) and SK Hynix (000660) have fallen below a 10-day supply, signaling a severe shortage for the coming year. The surge in AI infrastructure investment, which is expected to grow by 60% to $1.3 trillion, is driving unprecedented demand for HBM, server DDR5, and enterprise SSDs. The transition to HBM4, which requires significantly more wafer capacity than traditional DRAM, is expected to tighten supply further. KB Securities projects that demand for DRAM and NAND will exceed suppl