A top semiconductor industry chief executive stated on Monday that rising memory chip prices and product shortages are likely to continue until 2027, reinforcing the view that the scarcity triggered by the artificial intelligence infrastructure boom may last longer than initially anticipated. Memory chips are critical components in consumer electronic devices such as smartphones and laptops. They have also become essential parts of AI data centers and the servers installed within these facilities, with particularly massive demand for high-bandwidth memory. As data center infrastructure continues to consume hundreds of billions of dollars, the surge in demand for memory chips has sparked an unprecedented rise in semiconductor prices, a trend expected to persist throughout this year. Sassine Ghazi, CEO of key semiconductor design tool company Synopsys, indicated in an interview last week that the chip "shortage" will extend into 2026 and 2027. Ghazi stated that the majority of memory from leading manufacturers is "directly allocated to AI infrastructure, but many other products also require memory, leaving these other markets currently starved as there is no remaining capacity available for them." Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron are the world's largest memory companies. Ghazi explained that although these companies aim to expand production, bringing new capacity online takes at least two years, which is one reason the shortage is expected to endure. Memory prices have historically fluctuated in cycles of shortage or surplus, which determine component pricing. However, some analysts are referring to the current trend as a "super cycle." "For memory companies, this is a golden era," Ghazi said.
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