Samsung warns memory shortage will be worse next year

The global memory shortage poses a challenge for consumers in 2026, and Samsung does not believe the situation will improve in 2027.

The Korean tech giant released its quarterly earnings report this week, revealing record profit driven by demand for chips, according to Reuters. However, while this may be positive for Samsung’s accounts, the company readily acknowledges that high demand for memory for building AI data centers will continue to put pressure on global supply.

“Our supply is well below customer demand,” Samsung executive Kim Jaejune said during an earnings conference call. “Based solely on the demand currently received for 2027, the gap between supply and demand for 2027 is expected to widen even more than in 2026.”

In less business-speak, this means the memory shortage will be worse next year than it is now. This isn’t good for anyone other than the companies that make memory. The ongoing shortage has caused prices to rise for some products and delayed the release of others indefinitely. For example, Sony raised prices on PlayStation 5 consoles in March, Motorola raised prices on its mid-range phones this month, and we still don’t know when Valve’s exciting new Steam Machine console will be released, although the controller will be available next week.

But other than that, everything is going well.