Adata chief predicts memory shortages could persist throughout the next decade Chen says AI demand still exceeds most industry expectations worldwide DDR5 prices climbed another 7% during July despite earlier market optimism Chen Li-bai, chairman of memory chip manufacturer ADATA, has dismissed grow
<![CDATA[ <article> <ul><li><strong>Adata chief predicts memory shortages could persist throughout the next decade</strong></li><li><strong>Chen says AI demand still exceeds most industry expectations worldwide</strong></li><li><strong>DDR5 prices climbed another 7% during July despite earlier market optimism</strong></li></ul><p>Chen Li-bai, chairman of memory chip manufacturer ADATA, has dismissed growing market speculation about an imminent collapse in AI-related investment.</p><p>Speaking after TSMC's stock price plummeted following its recent earnings call, Chen argued that discussions about an <a href="https://www.techradar.com/pro/the-ai-bubble-it-will-burst-but-ai-will-still-be-here">AI bubble</a> remain premature at this stage.</p><p>He stated bluntly that any real conversation about a potential bubble should wait until after 2030.</p><h2 id="global-demand-still-outpacing-market-expectations">Global demand still outpacing market expectations</h2><p>Global demand for AI computing power, memory chips, and electricity continues to exceed what most market analysts had projected.</p><p>Meta's recent decision to <a href="https://www.techradar.com/pro/meta-reportedly-wants-to-start-a-cloud-computing-business-to-compete-with-aws-azure-and-others">lease out surplus computing resources</a> sparked speculation that cloud providers had overbuilt capacity faster than demand justified.</p><p>That interpretation, according to Chen, does not necessarily mean overall AI demand has fallen below earlier projections.</p><p>Future AI applications, he believes, will expand across multiple business models simultaneously, spanning B2B, B2G, B2C, and B2B2C categories.</p><p>Chen criticized analysts who judge the broader AI boom using only short-term capital expenditure or single-company utilization figures.</p><p>Such a narrow approach, he warned, amounts to a "view of the sky through a pipe" that underestimates long-term demand.</p><p>Even as Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron pursue expanded production capacity, Chen predicted continued scarcity across the memory sector.</p><p>Electricity, particularly green electricity, and memory will remain the two scarcest global resources over the coming decade, in his view.</p><p>Manufacturers are now expected to pursue rational, prudent expansion rather than repeat past cycles of disorderly, large-scale capacity increases.</p><h2 id="ddr5-prices-already-reflect-the-tightening-squeeze">DDR5 prices already reflect the tightening squeeze</h2><p>Real-world pricing data already supports Chen's underlying argument about persistent structural shortage rather than temporary market noise.</p><p><a href="https://www.techradar.com/computing/best-ddr5-ram">DDR5 memory</a> kits in Germany rose 7% in July 2026 alone, reaching new all-time price highs according to 3D Center.</p><p>That increase pushed average DDR5 costs to 448% above prices recorded in July 2025, representing more than a fourfold jump within a single year.</p><p>Much of that surge occurred between October 2025 and January 2026, despite brief stagnation between February and June.</p><p>Beyond AI data centers, Chen expects robots, autonomous vehicles, unmanned factories, unmanned stores, smart homes, low-orbit satellites, and related ground infrastructure to require additional memory capacity.</p><p>He argued these combined demands cannot be satisfied by the three dominant memory manufacturers, or even major Chinese producers, within a single decade.</p><p>As AI applications extend from centralized <a href="https://www.techradar.com/pro/best-data-center-proxies">data centers</a> into physical devices and infrastructure, memory scarcity may become a structural trend rather than a passing cyclical phase.</p><p>For consumers and <a href="https://www.techradar.com/news/computing/pc/10-of-the-best-desktop-pcs-of-2015-1304391">PC</a> manufacturers already contending with elevated component costs, Chen's outlook offers little indication that relief is arriving anytime soon.</p><p>Via <a href="https://www.ctee.com.tw/news/20260720700049-430501" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Ctee (originally in Chinese)</a></p><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:676px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:31.51%;"><img id="diM9tpwF2Lz85R8q85CT78" name="tr-g_news" alt="Google logo on a black background next to text reading 'Click to follow TechRadar'" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/diM9tpwF2Lz85R8q85CT78.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="676" height="213" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div></figure> </article> ]]>
