'The memory chip market is heading toward a severe shortage': analyst firm believes RAM crisis could get far worse in 2027 and you can blame AI ramping up

Date:
Thu, 10 Sep 2026 09:58:59 +0000

Description:
Could the RAM crisis get any gloomier? Yes, it just did, with the latest chatter from analysts turning even more pessimistic.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter A new report from KB Securities gets very gloomy about the RAM crisis We're told the "memory chip market is heading toward a severe supply shortage" in 2027 AI demand has ramped up massively with infrastructure investments up 60% year-on-year to $1.3 trillion, creating even more demand for memory as fuel for that rise If you thought the RAM crisis was going to get worse next year, you're very probably right but apparently we might suffer an even more severe shortage than some analysts already expect.

Wccftech flagged up an article from Business Korea (translated from Korean), which suggests that the RAM squeeze is tightening its grip on two of the biggest memory chip makers. Citing a report from KB Securities, the rumor is that Samsung and SK Hynix are now down to fewer than 10 days of memory inventory, which is very close to running dry. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here:

This has caused concerns that available memory supplies could dwindle and be depleted in 2027, with analysts believing that the "memory chip market is heading toward a severe supply shortage" (again, bear in mind this is a translation, but the message is clear enough).

KB Securities notes that the AI boom is what's causing this, as memory chip manufacturers struggle to meet demand for HBM4 memory in AI data centers. Infrastructure investments for AI development have been revised upwards to $1.3 trillion for 2027, we're told, which is a 60% year-on-year increase. You may like RAM crisis could get much worse next year and might persist beyond 2030 Samsung ends dream of RAM crisis improvement, forecasting shortages in 2027 Memory expert predicts huge RAM price hikes over the rest of 2026

Kim Dong-won, head of research at KB Securities, told Business Korea that:
"AI servers will absorb demand for not only HBM but also server DDR5 and enterprise SSDs, potentially leading to a historic shortage."

There's a brighter spot of news from laptop maker Framework though, which, as VideoCardz reports , has taken an unusual step in reducing the price of some of its products. As you may recall, Framework has been hiking laptop prices due to the increased cost of RAM (as have other notebook manufacturers), but the company just announced that it has secured some fresh memory modules at a lower price. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me
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This means that some of its current Framework Laptop orders will be knocked down in price, and the company said on X that it's "retroactively reducing prices for orders that shipped at higher price" too. Analysis: there's a historic level of gloom, that much is certain (Image credit: vlado85rs / Getty) It's impressive to see Framework acting in the best interests of its customers, particularly seeing as the firm could have (theoretically) kept quiet about bagging a batch of cheaper memory chips, and just kept the difference itself.

While that's commendable, it's a pretty small (but still welcome) bone we're being thrown in the face of the bad news for the RAM crisis here. Talk of a "historic shortage" is worrying, and it feels like this is an escalation of the recent chatter about global memory supply woes which has already turned highly negative .

While this latest report talks about server DDR5 RAM (and HBM), this will obviously have a bearing on consumer products, too. Those less profitable memory sticks are going to end up sidelined even further.

With rumors about GPU price hikes again coming to the fore this week , it's difficult to catch a breath between the bouts of bad news. We can hope that the pessimism is overblown here, but I can't shake the feeling that this
seems unlikely. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. The best laptops for all budgets Our top picks, based on real-world testing and comparisons

Read our full guide to the best laptops 1. Best overall: Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M5 2. Best budget: Apple MacBook Neo 3. Best Windows 11 laptop Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch 4. Best thin and light: Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i 5. Best Ultrabook Asus Zenbook S 16



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/memory/the-memory-chip-market-is-heading-t oward-a-severe-shortage-analyst-firm-believes-ram-crisis-could-get-far-worse-i n-2027-and-you-can-blame-ai-ramping-up


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