SK Group chairman Choi Tae-won reckons the global memory shortage will drag on until 2030 as the AI boom keeps demand ahead of supply.
Speaking to the gathered throngs at Nvidia’s GTC 2026 in San Jose, Choi said: “the supply shortage problem stems from the shortage of wafers, a key semiconductor material, which will take at least four to five years to acquire more wafers”, and that “demand will exceed supply by more than 20 per cent by 2030.
He tried to calm nerves on pricing, saying: “We will do our best to stabilise memory prices… I understand that SK Hynix CEO Kwak No-jeong will soon announce a new plan to stabilise DRAM prices.”
Choi ruled out any shifting of production to the US and backed Korea as the main base. He said: “it will be the same wherever you go, and even if you build production capacity outside of Korea, the chip manufacturing time will be the same… we will focus investment on Korea, where the foundation is established”.
For the first time, Choi confirmed he is “examining” a US ADR listing for SK Hynix. He explained that “because it can be exposed not only to Korean shareholders but to global shareholders such as the United States, it could become a more global company if listed”.
