The CEO of Phison acknowledges that the RAM shortage may worsen in the latter half of 2026.
The CEO of Phison acknowledges that the RAM shortage may worsen in the latter half of 2026.
Phison stands as a top producer of controller chips for SSDs and various flash memory devices — and CEO Pua Khein-Seng has emerged as a prominent authority on the severity of the RAM deficit potential.
Businesses may have to limit their product offerings in the latter half of 2026, and certain enterprises might not survive if they fail to obtain the necessary components, he concurred, during a televised discussion with Ningguan Chen from Taiwanese broadcaster Next TV.
Although the interview is conducted completely in Chinese, acquaintances of The Verge have come forward to validate portions of a translated overview that has generated headlines. They also emphasize the key point that it’s the interviewer who inquires about the possible closure of companies or the discontinuation of product lines. Khein-Seng mostly just agreed and specified that this will occur if these firms cannot secure sufficient RAM.
He additionally remarks that he anticipates individuals will begin to repair products more frequently when they malfunction, rather than discarding them, in the coming years.
It’s genuinely feasible that certain companies won’t manage to obtain adequate RAM. AI data centers are consuming the majority of the world’s memory supply amid a global expansion, leading to an unprecedented discord in supply and demand that has resulted in RAM prices tripling, quadrupling, or even increasing sixfold over recent months. Even Nvidia could forgo shipping a gaming GPU for the first time in 30 years. Even Apple may struggle to acquire enough RAM now, let alone memory chips for SSDs and other essential components.
The RAM scarcity may impact virtually all aspects of computing in the upcoming years, as just three corporations dominate 93 percent of the total DRAM market, and while these firms are working on increasing their facilities, they prefer not to expand too swiftly. All three have chosen to prioritize profits over risking overproduction which could lead to financial losses later.
Tomorrow, February 19th, I’ll present a report on The Verge regarding how “RAMageddon” will influence you, even if you might never consider purchasing a RAM stick yourself.
