韩国存储芯片制造商SK海力士预测，存储芯片短缺将至少持续到2030年，并表示这将有助于将其已经非常可观的营收和利润推向新高。该公司周三发布季度业绩时表示，相信“已形成良性循环，即人工智能驱动的生产力提升以及软件开发、客户服务和搜索等领域的新增营收，推动了人工智能的更广泛采用，进而带动基础设施投资增加。”
Korean memory-maker SK Hynix has predicted memory shortages will persist until at least the year 2030 and says that will help it to boost its already exceptional revenue and profits to new levels. In remarks published on Wednesday alongside its quarterly results, the company offered its belief that “a virtuous cycle has taken hold in which AI-driven productivity gains and new revenue generation in areas such as software development, customer service, and search lead to greater AI adoption, which in turn drives increased investment in infrastructure.”
SK海力士认为这是个好消息，因为这意味着更多买家正进入人工智能基础设施市场，包括“普通企业”以及建设主权基础设施的国家。在未来几年，该公司预计自动驾驶汽车和不断增长的机器人市场将带来更多存储需求。尽管公司正全力建设更多工厂并投入生产，但高管们承认，速度不足以满足需求。“公司评估认为，供给……跟不上市场增长的步伐，”SK海力士对投资者表示。“鉴于尖端工艺的技术难度以及建设新生产设施所需的漫长周期，预计需求超过供给的结构将持续到2030年。”
SK Hynix thinks this is great news, because it means more buyers are entering the market for AI infrastructure, including “general enterprises” and nations building sovereign infrastructure. In coming years, the company sees even more demand for memory coming from autonomous cars and the growing robotics market. While the company is working hard to build more factories and get them working, execs admitted it can’t do that fast enough to meet demand. “The company assessed that supply … is not keeping pace with the growth of the market,” SK Hynix told investors. “Given technical difficulty of leading-edge processes and the long lead time required to build new production facilities, it expects the structure in which demand exceeds supply to persist through 2030.”
情况更为严峻。SK海力士与14家大买家签订了14份长期协议，这些买家将在2027年和2028年共同购买其产量的一半以上，其中一些买家希望延长这些协议。这家韩国巨头并不介意，因为这些协议包含“一种在与客户商定的价格区间内反映市场状况的机制”，并使其拥有“一种在确保稳定盈利的同时，能灵活应对市场变化的结构”。这些协议帮助SK海力士实现了单季营收104.6万亿韩元（约合781亿美元），同比增长328%，环比增长32%。
It gets worse. SK Hynix has 14 long-term deals with 14 big buyers, who will collectively buy more than half of its output during 2027 and 2028, and some of them want to extend those agreements. The Korean giant doesn’t mind that because the deals include “a mechanism that reflects market conditions within a price range agreed upon with customers” and give it “a structure that secures stable profitability while allowing flexible responses to market changes.”Those deals helped SK Hynix to record quarterly revenue of ₩104.6 trillion ($78.1 billion), up 328 percent year-over-year and 32 percent quarter-over-quarter.
营业利润达到87.68万亿韩元（约合628亿美元），同比增长486%。公司告诉投资者其增长势头尚未结束，概述了扩大生产和重点发展高利润产品的计划，以“明年将营收和利润再上一个台阶”。这样做可能会在其他方面侵蚀利润，因为在公司的业绩电话会上，首席财务官金宇铉（Kim Woo-hyun）预测，“由于内存价格上涨和供应短缺带来的成本负担，预计PC和移动设备的出货量将会减少。”
Operating profit came in at ₩87.68 trillion ($62.8 billion), up 486 percent year over year. The company told investors it’s not done yet, outlining plans to expand production and emphasize lucrative products that will “scale up revenue and profit one step further next year.”Doing so will likely dent profits elsewhere, because on the company’s earnings call, chief financial officer Kim Woo-hyun predicted “shipment volumes for PCs and mobile devices are expected to decrease due to cost burdens from rising memory prices and supply shortages.”
公司还概述了一些未来计划，其中包括：增加HBM4产量，公司认为这将“在第四季度在出货量和营收方面均超越HBM3E，……并确立其作为主流产品的地位”；“迅速”提高10纳米级第六代（1c）工艺技术的占比，并扩大面向AI服务器的DDR5和LPDDR5 SOCAMM销售。将NAND开发“为一种核心解决方案，基于HBF和系统优化技术，提升AI服务的吞吐量和经济效率。”
The company also outlined some of its future plans, among them: Increasing HBM4 production, which it believes will “surpass HBM3E in both shipment volume and revenue in the fourth quarter and … establish itself as a mainstream product.”“Rapidly” increasing the portion of its 10nm-class 6th generation (1c) process technology and expand sales of DDR5 and LPDDR5 SOCAMM for AI servers.
投资者对所听到的内容表示欢迎，部分人显然认为这家存储芯片制造商的前景表明AI热潮不会很快熄火，推动公司股价在盘后交易中上涨约3%。®
Developing NAND “into a core solution that enhances the throughput and economic efficiency of AI services, based on HBF and system optimization technologies.”Investors liked what they heard, with some apparently seeing the memory-maker’s outlook as suggesting the AI boom won’t sputter out any time soon and sent the company’s share price up by about three percent in after-hours trading. ®