Meritz stated that storage orders from 2027 to 2028 far exceed capacity

Meritz Securities, a South Korean securities company, pointed out that the orders received by storage chip manufacturers for 2027 to 2028 far exceed their production capacity. Even if the Democratic Party in the United States gains an advantage in the midterm elections, leading to delays or adjustments in some data center projects, it is unlikely to fundamentally change the supply shortage of storage chips.

Meritz stated that the order delivery rate for storage chips this year (the ratio of available production capacity to order volume) has remained at a low level of 80% to 85%, driving a significant increase in storage chip prices. It is expected that the supply-demand gap will further widen in 2027, and the order delivery rate may drop to around 80%. During a recent visit to South Korea, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman requested SK hynix and Samsung Electronics to provide customized storage products such as HBM for 2027 to 2030, with demand exceeding the available production capacity of both companies.

Community user Teng Yan added that Samsung stated during a conference call with Meritz on October 29 that 10 large customers have signed multi-year storage supply agreements, and an equal number of customers are in negotiations. The demand for storage customers has also expanded from cloud service giants and AI server manufacturers to more fields. Therefore, the slowdown in U.S. data center approvals will only affect some orders and is unlikely to change the overall tight supply-demand situation.