[News] NAND Controller Maker Silicon Motion Reportedly Sees Memory Tightness Persist, Supply Gap Widening in 2027

As memory prices are expected to continue rising in the second quarter amid tight supply, both DRAM and NAND players remain cautious on when the bottleneck will ease. Central News Agency and Anue, citing Wallace C. Kou, president of NAND flash controller chipmaker Silicon Motion, report that the memory market is undergoing a structural shift, with the supply-demand gap expected to widen further in 2027.

Liberty Times, citing Kuo, notes that the overall industry capacity is expected to rise only about 15%–25% in 2026 despite continued demand acceleration. He also warned that market tightness is unlikely to ease until new capacity comes online in the second half of 2027 at the earliest, according to the report.

Kuo, cited by Liberty Times, further pointed out that NAND Flash and DRAM prices have surged sharply from August last year through March this year, rising several-fold depending on capacity. While AI and data center demand continues to expand rapidly, major suppliers including Samsung Electronics, Micron Technology, and SK hynix remain cautious on capital spending, extending expansion cycles and keeping supply growth behind demand, he added.

Against this backdrop, Central News Agency, citing Kuo, reports that while the market is already in a supply shortage this year, the gap is likely to expand in 2027, driven by strong demand from cloud service providers (CSPs) and Chinese internet companies. He said Silicon Motion will work to help customers avoid potential supply chain disruptions, as per the report.

In terms of when the market may ease, Kou, cited by MoneyDJ, said the key factor lies in the pace of DRAM capacity expansion. According to the report, new fabs from major memory suppliers are expected to begin ramping into production from the second half of 2026 through 2027. However, Kuo also noted that while this could slightly ease capacity pressure, it will not fully resolve the imbalance, with the market likely to remain in a tight equilibrium.

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(Photo credit: Silicon Motion)