Samsung has announced that the global shortage of memory chips, particularly RAM, is expected to worsen through 2027 and could last until 2028. The Korean tech giant, which produces about one-third of the world's memory chips, highlighted that the surge in demand is primarily driven by AI data centers looking to secure long-term supply. Samsung is leveraging close collaboration with AI labs who share their medium- to long-term forecasts, allowing the company to plan production and invest in equipment confidently while sidestepping the industry's typical boom-and-bust cycles.

This increased demand for memory chips has caused prices to rise significantly in recent months, benefiting Samsung’s semiconductor sales, which reached a record high in Q2. However, the higher costs of components have negatively impacted Samsung's profitability in other divisions such as smartphones and TVs. To offset the increased expenses, Samsung has started passing some of these costs on to consumers by raising prices for Galaxy smartphones and tablets, though this has led to a drop in demand for these devices.

The widespread memory shortage, sometimes called “RAMaggedon,” is not limited to Samsung but has also affected competitors like Apple, which recently increased prices on MacBooks, Macs, and iPads due to the same supply constraints. Apple’s latest financial forecasts indicate a slowing revenue growth rate partly attributed to these supply bottlenecks. Other companies, including Nvidia, are also expected to raise prices on consumer products like graphics cards by up to 30%, impacting the broader market for gaming and computing devices.

Manufacturers are shifting production priorities to meet the booming demand from AI data centers over consumer electronics, reshaping the market landscape and leading to generally higher retail prices for end-users. This paradigm shift underscores how the expanding AI sector is influencing chip supply and pricing, presenting ongoing challenges for consumer tech affordability and availability through at least the next two years.