Former Samsung semiconductor chief Khe-Hyun Kyung believes the global DRAM shortage could begin easing sooner than many expected, with RAM prices potentially falling around the second half of 2027 or early 2028 as China rapidly expands its memory chip production.
Kyung, who now serves as a senior advisor at Samsung after previously leading the company’s Device Solutions division, shared the forecast during the 285th NAEK Forum hosted by the National Academy of Engineering in Korea. His comments come at a critical moment for the memory market, where tight supply and soaring demand from artificial intelligence infrastructure have pushed DRAM prices higher and created pressure across the PC, consumer electronics, and server industries.
According to Kyung, China’s growing DRAM manufacturing capacity could significantly reshape the market. He suggested that Chinese output may reach as much as six million wafers per month by the second half of 2027. If that level of production materializes, it could add substantial supply to the global memory market and help bring down prices for consumers, PC builders, hardware companies, and enterprise buyers.
The forecast offers a more optimistic timeline than previous expectations. Some industry projections have suggested that the DRAM supply crunch may not fully ease until 2030 or even 2035. A meaningful improvement by 2028 would be a major relief for the technology sector, especially as memory prices continue to affect everything from laptops and desktops to graphics cards, servers, smartphones, and AI systems.
Today, the DRAM market is heavily concentrated among three major suppliers: Samsung and SK Hynix in South Korea, and Micron in the United States. South Korea alone controls close to 70% of the global DRAM market, making the country deeply exposed to any major shift in memory chip competition. Kyung warned that Korean manufacturers must prepare for the possibility of stronger Chinese competition, especially if China succeeds in building a large and stable domestic DRAM supply chain.
For consumers, the potential upside is clear. More DRAM production generally means better availability and lower pricing. Even if Chinese-made memory does not enter every market immediately, China producing more of its own RAM could reduce pressure on global supply. That would allow existing manufacturers to serve more customers worldwide and ease the shortage affecting many parts of the tech industry.
The current DRAM shortage has been driven in large part by the explosive rise of AI. Data centers and major technology companies are buying huge volumes of memory for AI accelerators, servers, and high-performance computing systems. This has redirected supply toward large enterprise customers, leaving smaller electronics makers and PC hardware companies facing higher costs and tighter availability.
While major AI firms and large cloud providers can often absorb rising component prices, smaller businesses are struggling. Companies that rely on affordable memory for consumer electronics, gaming PCs, embedded systems, and budget devices have been hit hard. If the shortage continues for several more years, it could reduce product variety, raise prices for end users, and weaken smaller players in the hardware market.
Kyung also emphasized that South Korea may need to rethink its long-term semiconductor strategy. Rather than trying to compete directly with both the United States and China across every area of hardware and software, he argued that Korea should focus more seriously on fabless system semiconductors and sovereign AI development. In his view, the country must carefully consider how it deploys artificial intelligence and where it can remain competitive in the changing chip landscape.
However, there are still uncertainties. Kyung noted that future production investments could slow if companies begin to see weaker returns from AI-related capital spending. In other words, if the AI investment boom cools, semiconductor companies may become more cautious about expanding capacity. That could affect how quickly new DRAM supply reaches the market.
Still, the possibility of relief by late 2027 or early 2028 is encouraging. Lower RAM prices would benefit PC gamers, workstation users, laptop buyers, businesses, and hardware manufacturers alike. Memory is a core component in nearly every modern computing device, so a drop in DRAM pricing could have a broad impact across the entire technology market.
If China’s DRAM expansion reaches the scale Kyung predicts, the global memory industry may be heading for a major shift. After years of tight supply, rising costs, and limited competition, increased production could finally bring balance back to the market and give consumers a much-needed break.
