Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are sitting on less than 10 days of memory inventory, and KB Securities says next year could bring the worst supply squeeze the memory business has ever recorded. Analyst Kim Dong-won warns that sellable volumes at both companies may simply run out, calling the shortfall structural rather than a routine demand swing.
The brokerage ties the drain to hyperscaler budgets, which it now projects at $1.3T for 2027, roughly 60% higher than a year earlier, as token-based billing and agent-style services turn model hosting into a direct revenue engine. Memory’s share of that spending is set to climb from 14% in 2025 to 40% this year and 57% in 2027, with TrendForce estimating the 2027 figure even higher at 68%.
Stockpiles at both makers stood at under 10 days as of the third quarter. The squeeze reaches beyond high-bandwidth memory: AI servers are also pulling in record volumes of server DDR5 and enterprise solid-state drives, and KB forecasts DRAM and NAND bit demand growth to outrun supply growth by more than 10 percentage points next year. Digitimes notes HBM4 production is absorbing fab capacity that would otherwise feed the commodity market.
KB Securities kept Samsung and SK hynix as its top semiconductor picks on the strength of the forecast. Memory makers have signaled similar tightness themselves, and buyers from phone brands to server vendors are already locking in price increases for the quarters ahead.
