Tuesday, August 4th 2026
Memory Makers Seal 2027 Deals: No Room for New Buyers
According to DigiTimes, industry insiders are now claiming that the entire memory production capacity for 2027 has been fully booked, well ahead of the schedule the industry expected. All of the big three memory makers—Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron—have sold out their memory capacity for the upcoming year, leaving no room for additional supply for third parties to purchase more DRAM wafers. Interestingly, the report notes that everyone from OEM server makers and PC makers to AI labs knows that July and August are crucial months for securing allocations for the following year. However, some businesses have been kept in the dark because nobody has been public about this out of fear of losing their allocation.
Memory makers have been pushing customers into long-term agreements with contracts ranging from three to five years, using an advance payment deposit model where customers essentially pre-pay for some of the memory capacity. These deals are made on an individual customer level. All of this combined signals that 2027 will be the worst year in recent history regarding memory shortages, meaning that only those who managed to sign agreements for supply will benefit, while the rest are left without as there simply isn't enough available DRAM. Only about 60-70% of the estimated demand can be met in 2027, leaving a significant amount of demand unmet and waiting for the 2028 supply.
Since manufacturers prioritize cloud service providers, hyperscalers, and AI labs, the consumer sector is left as the last step in the selling process. Some estimates show that 2027 unit sales in the consumer sector will be down compared to 2026, even as 2026 sales are down from 2025 for the same period. About 70% of DRAM is going directly to AI server and HBM allocation, leaving the remaining 30% for the consumer sector. NAND Flash, on the other hand, is showing signs of improvement, and 2027 will be a year when the supply chain balances out for storage, but not so much for memory.
Source:
DigiTimes
Memory makers have been pushing customers into long-term agreements with contracts ranging from three to five years, using an advance payment deposit model where customers essentially pre-pay for some of the memory capacity. These deals are made on an individual customer level. All of this combined signals that 2027 will be the worst year in recent history regarding memory shortages, meaning that only those who managed to sign agreements for supply will benefit, while the rest are left without as there simply isn't enough available DRAM. Only about 60-70% of the estimated demand can be met in 2027, leaving a significant amount of demand unmet and waiting for the 2028 supply.
37 Comments on Memory Makers Seal 2027 Deals: No Room for New Buyers
I'd really like a Steam Deck 2, but I guess that won't happen now until 2029? Maybe 2030, as the markets will be hit hard even when AI demand normalizes...
PC/DIY market has essentially died completely: we're back to the 1980's start of the PC era with tard prices for shit computers(check the pricing for pc xt and at, something like 2 grand for the base system, and we're talking about 1983 dollars....), the only buyers left will be corporate and leasers that renew their fleets yearly/biyearly and only from big name manufacturers
This hypothetical crash would devastate the memory cartel as well. The only thing that would spare them from going bellyup is that their product isn't inherently tied to that nonesense of an application.
Not to mention the 64 GB Kits, that could have INSANE prices in 2027!
The big money movers are making a killing on all these loans, and the AI companies have no clue how to pay the loans back without hyping their stock and doing circular deals with Nvidia and so on
Isn't the bubble in the middle of bursting, according to many here?
They've taken deposits, they're not getting paid in full upfront, especially with the extortionate prices they colluded on
The ram shortage will last as long as the dram cartel says it will
that production slot will go poof, gone.
thinking memory would go sit in the warehouses of defunct companies is ... wrong...
even producers wouldn't want the memory to go to a curator as that would mean a shitload of memory would go on to the market without them being able to influence the price.
this is an other attempt of market manipulation by companies that are shedding valuation like a cat in late spring.
How long will this keep going on?
SpaceX stock is going to wobble august 6 and probably tank a couple of weeks later when they have to release their financials.
The end goal seems to be taking away ownership from the end user so consumers can't run their own local AI.
Either way next few years memory makers are making bank.
IfWhen these preposterously risky financial maneuvers send everyone involved in a flatspin back to terra firma, the companies and, more notably, lenders involved will pull every legal string they can to get the most favorable default on these long-term deals where there is no pathway to shore up the money owed. Most of this product is still in the manufacturer's custody or hasn't even been produced. Whether by will or force, they will be given the ownership of that product back as part of concessions, and it will still technically be new-in-box. They may buffer out the tsunami of silicon they'll be left with but supply sitting is supply hemorrhaging money on the books.