February 5, 2026 /SemiMedia/ — Intel Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan said global memory supply constraints are unlikely to ease before 2028, as rapid expansion of AI infrastructure continues to divert capacity away from PCs and smartphones.

Speaking at Cisco’s AI summit on Monday, Tan said feedback from major memory makers suggests the current tight market shows little sign of improvement, with data centers absorbing a growing share of available output.

The imbalance has already pushed up prices for some memory products and could weigh on demand for consumer electronics, he said, adding that AI systems are “pulling in large amounts of memory.”

Against this backdrop, Intel is stepping up efforts to re-enter the memory segment. The company has signed a partnership with Saimemory, a SoftBank-backed venture, to co-develop Z-Angle Memory (ZAM), a vertically stacked design aimed at AI servers.

The companies said ZAM is designed to offer higher capacity and bandwidth with lower power use, positioning it as a potential alternative to high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in today’s AI accelerators.

Saimemory said it plans to complete a prototype by the fiscal year ending March 31, 2028, with commercial rollout targeted for fiscal 2029.