Intel’s Sobering Forecast Casts Shadow Over Memory Market

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan has issued a pessimistic forecast concerning the global semiconductor memory market. At a Cisco Systems conference, he stated that the acute shortage of DRAM and NAND chips is likely to last at least until 2028. According to Intel’s chief, this conclusion is based on direct consultations with the two biggest market players. Specifically, they reported: “There will be no relief until 2028.” Although it was not disclosed which specific memory manufacturers he referred to, they include Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron.

The main cause of the crisis is the AI boom. The global expansion of AI infrastructure demands colossal volumes of memory, leading manufacturers to redirect their capacities towards the server segment, thus reducing supplies for the PC segment. Lip-Bu Tan highlighted Nvidia’s role in this process. The launch of the new Rubin platform and the next generations of graphics accelerators will only complicate the situation: modern AI chips will literally drain the available memory from the market.

For Intel, as the largest producer of PC processors, this is not particularly rosy, as the shortage of memory is accompanied by a decline in CPU demand.