作者：Wall Street CN

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the world's two largest DRAM chip manufacturers, issued warnings on Thursday.Strong demand driven by the construction of AI data centers is squeezing memory chip production capacity used in traditional consumer electronics, which could lead to a global supply shortage for PCs and smartphones.

These two giants, who together account for about two-thirds of the global DRAM market share, stated that the supply of conventional DRAM chips used in personal computers and mobile phones will remain tight in order to prioritize orders for higher-margin high-end server memory chips (such as HBM). Major consumer electronics brands like Apple are their core customers, and supply chain risks are accumulating.

This structural shift has forced market research firms to lower their industry forecasts.IDC and Counterpoint recently revised their 2026 global smartphone sales forecast from growth to at least a 2% contraction, and lowered their PC market forecast from growth to a contraction of at least 4.9%.Amid the AI infrastructure investment boom, consumer electronics manufacturers are facing the dual challenges of squeezed profits and unstable supply chains.

PC and mobile phone manufacturers are facing supply difficulties.

Park Joon Deok, head of marketing for SK Hynix's DRAM business, clearly stated in the earnings call:

"PC and mobile device customers are facing challenges in securing memory supply, and they are being directly or indirectly impacted by supply constraints and exceptionally strong demand for server-related products."

In response to the current shortage and the resulting sharp price increases, some manufacturers have begun adjusting their strategies. SK Hynix revealed:

"Due to the recent rapid rise in memory chip prices, PC and mobile customers are reassessing their purchasing pace. Some customers are taking a more conservative approach to their shipment plans or are considering adjusting the memory specifications of their price-sensitive product lines to control costs."

As the world's second-largest smartphone manufacturer, Samsung Electronics is also preparing for the potential impact of chip shortages. Its mobile business saw a 10% decline in profits in the fourth quarter. Samsung mobile executive Cho Seong warned that 2026 will be "a challenging year."Global smartphone shipments are expected to remain roughly flat this year, with the risk that shipment forecasts may be forced to be lowered due to rising memory chip costs.

Production capacity shifts towards AI chips

The fierce competition in AI infrastructure development is driving major global chip manufacturers to strategically shift production capacity towards AI server-specific products such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM), which offers higher profit margins. This structural adjustment is resulting in continued pressure on the supply of conventional DRAM chips used in traditional consumer electronics. Samsung Electronics serves as an example.In the fourth quarter, the company clearly prioritized meeting the needs of its server customers and plans to continue increasing the production capacity of AI-related products in the future, which may further limit the production of conventional memory.

also,The supply-side tensions in the industry have been exacerbated by manufacturers’ conservative expansion strategies.Since the industry experienced growing pains from aggressive expansion following the last supercycle in 2017,Chip manufacturers are generally cautious about adding new production capacity.Samsung stated that this cautious capital expenditure approach is expected to continue in 2026 and 2027, meaning that capacity expansion will remain limited in the foreseeable future and will be difficult to quickly alleviate the supply shortage caused by the shift in demand structure.

Competition in the HBM market is fierce.

Samsung Electronics is aggressively expanding its presence in the AI memory chip market, aiming to narrow the gap with leader SK Hynix in the lucrative high-bandwidth memory (HBM) sector. According to Macquarie equity research data, SK Hynix dominated the HBM chip market last year with approximately 61% market share, Samsung had 19%, and Micron had about 20%. Currently, SK Hynix is a major supplier of HBM chips to Nvidia.

Facing competition, SK Hynix made it clear on Thursday that its goal is to maintain an "overwhelming" market share in the next-generation HBM4 chip, highlighting the increasingly fierce competition between the two companies in the field of advanced memory chips that will determine the foundation of future AI computing power.

The market is also focused on another key development: Apple will release its quarterly earnings report after the US stock market closes on Thursday. Investors are looking forward to comments from management on how to deal with the current tight global memory chip supply, which may reveal the supply chain pressures faced by the consumer electronics giant and its coping strategies.