SK hynix CEO Noh-Jung Kwak: "There Are No Signs of a Memory Downturn... AI Has Changed the Market Structure"

[Financial News, West Lafayette = Lee Byung-chul, correspondent]SK hynix expects the AI-driven memory supercycle to continue at least through 2030. The company also believes the risk of a sharp supply glut and price decline, which once shook the memory market, has fallen compared with the past. As the memory industry rapidly shifts from general-purpose products to customer-tailored solutions in the AI era, demand has become easier to forecast.
At a press conference held on the 27th (local time) shortly after the groundbreaking ceremony for its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) production base in West Lafayette, Indiana, SK hynix CEO Noh-Jung Kwak said, "We are not seeing any clear signs of a current downturn," and added, "We expect the supply shortage to continue through 2030."
Kwak said that even if a memory downturn comes in the future, it is unlikely to be as severe as in the past. "In the past, the memory business was essentially 100% a commodity business," he explained. "Because each company increased production and competed in the same market, it was difficult to accurately predict demand or properly adjust output."
Kwak believes AI is changing the structure of the memory industry. With a growing share of customer-specific products centered on HBM, memory makers and clients are now working together from the product development stage.
Kwak said, "The business model is shifting from 100% commodity products to partially customized products and, ultimately, to fully customer-tailored products." He added, "In the case of HBM, we have to work closely with customers from the early stages of next-generation memory development to deliver the best performance in their systems." He continued, "That means market demand will be easier to predict," and forecast that if a downturn does come, it will likely show up as slower growth or a flat trend rather than a sharp decline.
He also left open the possibility of additional investment in the United States. Regarding potential sites for further investment, Kwak said, "No location has been finalized or narrowed down yet," but added, "We are not ruling out any region, and we are open to anywhere that can provide sufficient water, power, land and support." He effectively maintained the same stance on the possibility of investing in front-end facilities, which the United States government has been calling for.
Kwak cited power, water and talent as the reasons SK hynix chose Indiana for its first manufacturing base in the United States. "After comprehensively reviewing land, power, water, talent, and support from the local government, the Federal Government of the United States and the community, Indiana stood out clearly among the other candidate states," he said. "We hope to successfully complete the plant and produce the first leading HBM in the United States here."
[email protected] Lee Byung-chul, correspondent Reporter