Though the memory crisis has proven to be a thorn in the side of most major businesses, the scarcity has led to a lot of interest in manufacturer SK hynix. It seems companies are lining up at its doors in search of contracts, and the world’s second-largest memory maker is unable to meet demand.
As reported by Reuters, potential proposals from other businesses include financing equipment to raise production capacity. Three people reportedly told Reuters that one firm offers ultraviolet lithography machines, which are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
One source tells Reuters, “Regardless of the type of offer, available capacity is essentially zero right now.” They continue. “There isn’t even a small portion that can be designated for a specific customer.”
Two people reportedly told Reuters that SK hynix is cautious of taking contracts for deals, as making those deals could lose the company money in the long term. It’s said that longer-term deals could require selling memory at a lower price, in exchange for that security.
Samsung and Micron, the two other biggest players in the memory manufacturing industry, are reportedly both in talks with companies for multi-year contracts, but no firm details have come out from either of them.
It seems unlikely the memory crisis will end any time soon. Micron recently confirmed that demand is “significantly in excess of our available supply for the foreseeable future”, and it has plans to support “meaningful product shipments” by 2028 in its semiconductor facility in Tongluo, Taiwan.
Companies are hurting now, though. Recently, I was told “this is the first time where I’m seeing no light at the end of the tunnel” by Wallace Santos, the CEO of gaming PC builder Maingear. Santos also told me, “I think there will be some companies that will dissipate into the sunset. That’s the reality of it.”
This same fear is shared by Phison’s CEO, Pua Khein-Seng. Earlier this year, he predicted that many consumer electronics manufacturers would go bankrupt or exit product lines by the end of 2026.
Even motherboard manufacturers have seemingly been hit too, with MSI, Gigabyte, Asus, and ASRock all reportedly dropping estimated sales this year. As the memory crisis hits all manner of components, the will to upgrade goes down with it.
One can only hope that, if SK hynix takes on some of these deals, it can increase supplies to meet all that demand.