SK Group Chairman: Next year, the demand for storage chips is expected to increase by at least 50% to 60%, further widening the supply-demand gap

BlockBeats News, July 19th, according to South Korea's Daily Economic News, SK Group Chairman and President of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Choi Tae-won, stated that driven by AI expansion, next year's demand for AI semiconductors is expected to increase by at least 60% to 100% compared to this year, and overall memory chip demand will also grow by at least 50% to 60%.

Choi Tae-won said that the additional supply that each company can increase next year is very limited, and the supply-demand gap may further widen. Currently, global enterprises are competing for memory chip supply. He stated that existing expansion plans are still insufficient to meet the rapidly growing demand. SK's current strategy is to "build wherever possible," but equipment, personnel, and construction schedules still constrain capacity expansion.

He also pointed out that current memory chip prices have deviated from the normal range, and PC and smartphone manufacturers cannot continue to pass on cost increases to consumers. Semiconductor companies should not restrict supply to maintain high prices. Even if profit margins decline, they should increase production and expand the market. Otherwise, excessively high prices may attract new competitors and trigger government intervention in various countries.

Choi Tae-won also stated that the AI industry is facing shortages in infrastructure such as GPUs, storage, and power, which may lead to new bottlenecks in the future. Regarding the possibility of SK Hynix's stock split, he mentioned that it has not been thoroughly studied and that the adjustment mechanism between South Korean stocks and American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) needs to be evaluated together.