May 2026 saw the global memory chip market boom: The AI revolution drove explosive demand for HBM, DDR5, and NVMe SSDs, entering a high-growth phase. Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron all reported >200% YoY net profit growth in Q1; China’s YMTC and CXMT advanced in NAND Flash and DRAM, accelerating domestic substitution.

AI has revolutionized memory demand: Training a single large model requires petabytes of storage with extreme bandwidth and reliability. The global AI storage market is set to exceed USD 200 billion in 2026 (up >80% YoY), with high-end products in short supply.

Supply-demand imbalances lifted prices, sustaining sector growth: global leaders (Samsung’s market cap near USD 1 trillion; Micron at an all-time high share price); China’s progress (YMTC mass-produced 128-layer QLC NAND; CXMT improved DDR5 yield); compute infrastructure (optical module firms like Innovative Growth saw 262% YoY Q1 profit growth, with 800G/1.6T products ramping amid AI buildouts).

In the AI compute revolution, memory chips are a top beneficiary. As models scale and AI applications proliferate, demand will keep surging, offering vast scope for domestic substitution and sustained growth across the supply chain.