March 18, 2026 /SemiMedia/ — SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said global memory supply may remain tight through 2030, as strong demand from artificial intelligence continues to outpace industry capacity growth.

The comment, made during Nvidia’s GTC event, points to a longer shortage cycle than earlier market expectations, which had projected supply constraints easing around 2028.

SK Hynix, a major supplier of DRAM and NAND flash, is at the center of this trend. Rising demand for high bandwidth memory (HBM), widely used in AI systems, is driving a new wave of growth in the memory sector.

However, expanding supply remains slow. Building new wafer fabs takes years, and overseas projects often face limits in power, land, and construction resources. These factors are holding back capacity increases.

Chey said the imbalance between supply and demand is likely to persist for the rest of the decade. SK Hynix is preparing measures to help stabilize pricing, with more details expected soon.