The world's memory chip shortage is set to drag on for another four years, which is good news for chipmakers and their investors but bad for anyone buying phones, PCs, or servers.

• SK Hynix says the current shortage of memory chips will not ease until the end of 2030.
• The cause is the AI boom, which is soaking up huge amounts of high-bandwidth memory used in AI servers.
• SK Hynix is spending over $4 billion on a new Indiana plant to package and test next-generation HBM4E chips, with mass production planned for 2029.
• The location puts it closer to its biggest US customers — Nvidia, Microsoft, and Google.
• Advanced wafers will still be made in South Korea and shipped to Indiana for final assembly, tying the two supply chains together.

Outlook: Memory prices should stay high, and any slowdown is expected to be a gentle cooling of demand rather than a crash.