Musk's China RAM Warning Adds to Doubts Over Korea's Chip Boom

Elon Musk, Tesla's chief executive, says China will be turning out “a LOT of RAM” in 2028. His comments add a fresh supply-side threat to a South Korean column that has warned of memory chip oversupply from 2029.

The timing is striking. Korean chipmakers are turning in record earnings, yet the column argues the country has just two to three years to develop new growth industries.

What a Memory Chip Glut Would Mean for Korea's Economy

The piece was published by Maeil Business Newspaper, a prominent financial daily in South Korea. In its telling, the country's economy has become heavily reliant on Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

That dependence, the columnist argues, makes Korea vulnerable when the boom winds down. As the column sees it, an oversupply of memory chips could arrive around 2029 as new fabrication capacity comes online.

A financial column published in South Korea now warns of memory oversupply in 2029, after new capacity comes online.

They argue Korea has only 2-3 years to develop new growth industries before the cycle potentially reverses. $DRAM $MU $SKHY $EWY

— P Equity Research (@pequityresearch) October 15, 2026

Gartner's numbers illustrate how much is now riding on memory. The research firm forecasts memory revenue of $837 billion for 2026, a sum equal to 54% of global semiconductor sales. In 2025 that share was only 27%, and Gartner attributes a good portion of the rise to higher prices.

Still, Gartner continues to see supply staying tight in 2027, despite additional capacity reaching the market.

Seoul has heard this worry before. The Bank of Korea has already described the AI chip trade as a financial stability problem.

In an X post, Musk shared the column's summary alongside a single-line remark. Which Chinese firms would drive that output was left unspecified.

Will Chinese RAM Reach the Market Before Korea Can Diversify?

China will be making a LOT of RAM in 2028 https://t.co/RiBFTe6JIC

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 15, 2026

In the meantime, Chinese competitor ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) announced advances on a denser DRAM design. The update pulled Samsung and SK Hynix shares lower, and those two stocks represent roughly half of the KOSPI by weight. According to Counterpoint Research, CXMT already accounted for about 8% of global DRAM revenue in the first quarter.

Musk has also applauded Micron for showing restraint on pricing, a sign he is paying close attention to memory costs.

Demand, at least for the moment, is still outpacing supply. Gartner even projects memory revenue will pass $1 trillion in 2027.

Should Chinese production expand in 2028, though, a memory glut could begin one year ahead of the column's timeline. That could make Korea's window for diversification shorter still.