SAN JOSE, California, March 16 - SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said on Monday that the worldwide shortage of semiconductor wafers is likely to extend to 2030, as artificial intelligence applications continue to require large volumes of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) that use significant wafer capacity.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Nvidia’s GTC Conference in San Jose, Chey outlined several strategic considerations for SK Hynix and the wider group. He said SK Hynix is evaluating a potential U.S. American Depositary Receipt (ADR) listing to widen its shareholder base outside Korea, and that the companys chief executive may present a new plan aimed at stabilising DRAM chip prices.
Chey highlighted the relationship between AI demand and wafer consumption. "AI actually wants to have a lot of HBM, and once you make the HBM...we have to use a lot of wafers," he said, describing how HBM production intensifies wafer use. He added that it will take time to expand wafer manufacturing capacity, estimating a need for at least four to five years and warning that the current shortage could continue until 2030. "So we expect more than a 20% shortage of the wafers," he said.
The chairman also described corporate efforts to bring more predictability to memory pricing. While he declined to outline details on the spot, he said a new initiative from SK Hynix's CEO aimed at DRAM price stabilisation is expected. "So I cannot just announce right here, but I guess that our CEO is going to announce a new plan for how to stabilise the price of the DRAM," Chey said.
SK Hynix's market positions were noted in Cheys remarks: the company is the principal supplier of HBM to Nvidia, holding a 57% share of the HBM market, and it accounts for a 32% share of the global DRAM market, making it the second-largest player, according to Counterpoint.
Beyond chip production and investor strategy, Chey pointed to geopolitical developments as a near-term challenge. He said tensions in the Middle East have driven up energy prices, creating difficulties for the group and prompting a search for alternative energy sources.
Market reaction to the comments was noticeable in Seoul: SK Hynix shares were trading up 3.5% on Tuesday morning, while the benchmark KOSPI index rose about 3% over the same period.
Separately, an AI-driven stock evaluation service mentioned SK Hynix's Korean ticker, 000660, in the context of automated monthly analyses. The service said it assesses thousands of companies each month using more than 100 financial metrics to generate stock ideas focused on fundamentals, momentum, and valuation, and that it identifies stocks offering favorable risk-reward profiles. The service cited past winners to illustrate its approach and offered readers a way to check whether 000660 appears in its strategies or whether there are other opportunities in the same sector.
Key context and takeaways are outlined below, followed by risks highlighted by Cheys comments.