SK Group Chairman: AI Drives Exponential Memory Demand Growth
SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won stated that AI is driving exponential growth in memory demand, and a doubling of production capacity in the next five years will likely not meet the need.
Choi Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, announced that the memory industry is entering a phase of structural growth driven by artificial intelligence (AI). He indicated that the demand for memory products is poised for exponential expansion, and even a doubling of production capacity over the next five years may prove insufficient to meet customer requirements.
The remarks followed SK Hynix's listing of its American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on the Nasdaq. Choi explained that the fundamental drivers of memory demand have shifted from being primarily tied to population size and sales of smartphones and PCs. The emergence of AI agents, inference processes, physical AI, and robotics has fundamentally altered the demand structure.
"Memory demand will grow exponentially in the future," Choi stated. He further noted that despite ongoing capacity expansions, the gap between supply and demand will be challenging to close. Some customers have reportedly indicated a need that is five to six times greater than current supply levels.
SK Hynix plans to double its production capacity within the next five years. However, Choi cautioned that this expansion might still fall short of meeting anticipated customer needs. He projected that the demand for large-scale memory solutions will persist until Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) becomes widespread and the demand structure stabilizes.
This outlook highlights the significant impact of AI development on the semiconductor industry, particularly the memory sector, as advanced AI applications necessitate substantial memory resources.