Samsung and SK Hynix Memory Inventories Drop to Critical Levels

The artificial intelligence boom is to blame for the situation.

Memory chip inventories at South Korea’s largest manufacturers, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, have dropped to critically low levels. According to Business Korea, citing Kim Dong-won, head of the research center at KB Securities, the companies had less than ten days of operating inventory left in the third quarter.

Kim Dong-won warns that such low warehouse inventories could trigger additional market disruptions. He estimates that supplies of DDR5 and enterprise SSDs are becoming especially vulnerable because memory manufacturers are forced to allocate more and more resources to orders related to artificial intelligence.

The situation could become even more complicated in 2027, when the broader rollout of HBM4 begins. The new generation of memory requires even greater manufacturing resources compared to its predecessors, so continued growth in demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure could intensify the shortage of standard memory.

The problem is already moving beyond individual manufacturers. NVIDIA previously stated that memory shortages could remain a limiting factor for the company’s growth until early 2028. NVIDIA Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress also noted exceptionally high memory prices and expected them to rise further the following year.