[SK Hynix CEO: 2027 Will Be the Year of the Most Severe Supply Shortage in the History of the Storage Industry] BlockBeats News, July 12 — SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-Jung stated this week that 2027 is expected to become the year with the tightest supply in the history of the storage industry. Customers are actively seeking long-term supply agreements, and even with continued capacity expansion, demand may still exceed supply after 2030. On its first day of ADR listing, SK Hynix shares closed up 12.76%, raising approximately $26.5 billion, setting a record for foreign companies' IPO fundraising in the U.S. The company announced that the funds raised will primarily be used for investments in wafer fabs, advanced packaging production lines, and lithography equipment, as well as further strengthening collaborations with AI clients and building AI talent reserves. Meanwhile, Kwak Noh-Jung revealed that the company is exploring a "Memory-as-a-Service" model, potentially offering storage resource leasing services to customers in the future instead of directly selling chips. Industry organizations predict that driven by AI computing power demand, the HBM market will continue to face supply shortages. The price of HBM4 is expected to double in 2027 compared to 2026, and global HBM manufacturers are securing capacity by signing 3- to 5-year long-term agreements with leading AI clients. [Original Link]