Is this the peak of the memory boom?

TL;DR: South Korean memory chip firms are having a great year, posting record profits and even enriching workers along the way. But growing fears that memory prices can’t rise forever—and a new lawsuit accusing top memory makers of price fixing (something they’ve done before)—are casting a cloud over the gold rush.

What happened: It’s an amazing time to be a South Korean memory chipmaker. SK Hynix, which makes a large percentage of the world’s high bandwidth memory chips, now has a market cap around $1 trillion after its stock price soared over sevenfold in the last year. And that number could jump even higher after its Nasdaq debut tomorrow, given that there aren’t enough shares to go around right now.

Then there’s Samsung, which posted brain-breaking profits this quarter, beating even Nvidia’s most recent quarterly earnings. Thanks to this chip boom, the country’s economy is now projected to grow 2.6% this year, per the IMF, the biggest growth upgrade given to any major economy in its latest projections.

The best of times: It’s not just top execs who are raking in money. A chip worker at SK Hynix or Samsung could pocket a bonus worth more than $400,000 this year, depending on the firms’ annual profits. The payouts are so eye-watering that they’ve stoked inflation concerns, and the windfall is upending all corners of Korean society—from what young people want to study in college to who they want to date.

And yet… Uncertainty looms over how long the party will last. Samsung’s stock fell sharply after its gangbuster profit still missed stratospheric expectations. The question on everyone’s mind: Will the incredible run continue, or is this the start of a memory chip bust? Especially given the cost of electronics could soon reach the ceiling for many consumers—particularly if RAM prices jump another 70% or so by the end of 2026, as one analyst estimates. The signs are already there: For the first time in over two years, worldwide PC shipments fell this past quarter.

The two Korean firms, alongside Micron, are also the subject of yet another lawsuit accusing them of colluding on prices, which could potentially come with costly consequences (Samsung and SK Hynix have pleaded guilty to price fixing DRAM before).

Bottom line: The sheer scale of South Korea’s chip boom is now fueling fears that we’re nearing the top of what people (and tech companies) will pay for memory—and it could all come crashing down as fast as it rose. —WK