The memory crisis isn't going to be solved before 2030, and there's a new shortage brewing that's just going to make things worse and more expensive.

Manufacturers and consumers are already dealing with the effects of high memory demand caused primarily through AI data center and infrastructure buildouts. Now, it seems that the problem will be affecting more components, and for years longer than anyone really expected.

In its Q3 financial results released on Wednesday, memory maker SK Hynix claims it achieved revenues of 104 trillion won ($77 billion) and a net profit of 39.7 trillion won ($29 billion), thanks to record sales.

However, the company is also aware that its high revenue has a backdrop of the memory supply shortage. "AI-driven productivity gains" has helped lead to greater AI adoption, resulting in more investment in infrastructure.

With the prospect of AI data center growth continuing to be steady for the foreseeable future, SK Hynix also points out a supply problem. In its assessment, supplies are not keeping up with the growth of the market.

There's also the technical difficulty of "leading-edge processes" as well as the lengthy construction time to make new manufacturing facilities to consider. SK Hynix expects that demand for memory will continue to exceed supply through 2030.

An expanded problem

While the prospect of waiting years for memory prices to stabilize or even start to return to normal is a bad one, it's not the only issue AI is causing.

According to Nikkei Asia, there's another supply constraint that's affecting electronics producers. Printed circuit boards are in short supply too.

Just like consumer computers and enterprise servers, AI infrastructure relies on printed circuit boards (PCBs) to plug everything into and to get the components working together.

AI server makers have their own custom motherboards, made to be more efficient and to cope with the needs of AI processing. This puts a strain on the PCB market, affecting practically anyone needing a circuit board.

PC manufacturers such as HP and Dell are already locking in with suppliers early, so they can avoid the supply capacity limits that have plagued the memory industry. In turn, this will impact the cost of boards across the industry.

Higher prices, for longer

Once again, this is a big problem for consumers in general, including Apple device users. Like other PC and electronics manufacturers, Apple has to compete in the same market, with very similar constraints.

Apple does have the benefit of its sheer size and the scale of its supply chain operations. It too will use its expertise to secure components long in advance, just as it did to insulate consumers from memory price rises.

However, just like the memory problem, this is something Apple cannot maintain in the long term. Eventually, if prices rise even more, they will be passed down to consumers, increasing the cost of future iPhones and Macs.

It was already expected that the RAM supply crisis would get worse before it gets better. While memory producers fight to build out facilities as fast as they can, it's still a multi-year process that will take a very long time.

Short of a major event cutting AI's appetite for memory and circuit boards, we face quite a few years of painful product pricing.