SK Hynix Warns of Three-Year Memory Shortage as AI Demand Crushes Global Chip Supply

Record Profits, Record Warnings

SK Hynix has delivered a striking one-two punch to the global technology industry: record-breaking first-quarter results paired with a sobering warning that the AI-driven memory shortage will persist for at least three years. The South Korean memory giant reported operating profit surged 405% year-on-year to 37.6 trillion won, with an industry-leading 72% operating margin.

CFO Kim Woo-hyun told investors the company expects 2026 investment to increase significantly as it races to meet insatiable demand for high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, the specialised chips that power AI accelerators. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said expanding wafer capacity could take four to five years, with anticipated shortfalls exceeding 20%.

Intel and AMD Hike CPU Prices

The memory crunch is just one front in a broader semiconductor squeeze. Intel has confirmed selective price increases for OEMs, with server CPU prices climbing 10 to 20% since March and consumer chips rising 5 to 10%. The market expects another round of 8 to 10% increases in the second half of 2026. AMD is planning cumulative hikes of 16 to 17% across its server CPU lineup this year.

Intel's David Feng told CRN the company has been updating prices in response to commodity increases and the supply-demand situation. Global Channel Chief Dave Guzzi noted CPU price increases would be modest compared with the soaring cost of memory.

Lenovo Sounds the Alarm

Lenovo data centre executive Vlad Rozanovich revealed the company is experiencing shortages of certain Intel CPU configurations, including higher-end Xeon 6 Granite Rapids processors. Some customers are being forced to fall back on older generations, including chips Intel discontinued more than two years ago. Lenovo has alerted customers that it may be unable to ship certain data centre products within the next six months.

A Cascading Crisis

Analysts see little near-term relief. TrendForce expects the HBM market to remain highly constrained through 2027. Goldman Sachs raised DRAM price forecasts to 250-280% year-over-year gains in 2026, with NAND flash at 200-250%. The ripple effects are already reaching consumers: ProGrade Digital is raising prices in May, and Lenovo's flagship gaming handheld has nearly doubled in price since its October launch. Gartner projects combined DRAM and SSD prices could surge 130% by the end of 2026, pushing overall PC prices up 17%.