Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the global semiconductor industry, and the effects may soon extend far beyond AI servers and data centers. According to recent comments from SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-Jung, demand for memory chips is expected to continue outpacing supply, raising concerns that the Pro AV industry could face its most significant component supply challenge in years.
At the same time, ROE Visual, one of the world’s leading LED display manufacturers, has warned that longer lead times—not just higher prices—are becoming an increasingly serious issue for the industry.
Together with recent observations from market research firms including Omdia, invidis, and CTI, these developments suggest that memory availability could emerge as one of the defining challenges for the Pro AV sector by 2027.
The discussion intensified after SK hynix, one of the world’s three largest memory chip manufacturers, shared its outlook on the future supply of memory products.
Speaking to Reuters ahead of the company’s planned Nasdaq listing, CEO Kwak Noh-Jung said the memory market is likely to experience its tightest supply conditions next year. He also expects customer demand to remain above production capacity until at least the end of this decade, highlighting the structural impact of AI-driven investment across the semiconductor industry.
Unlike previous semiconductor cycles, the current imbalance is not being driven primarily by consumer electronics. Instead, the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure is creating sustained demand for high-performance memory, encouraging manufacturers to allocate more production resources to AI-related products.
The pressure is already becoming visible across the electronics supply chain.
According to the latest data from supply chain consultancy GlobX, electronic components that traditionally required 8 to 16 weeks for delivery are now seeing lead times extend to 26 to 55 weeks in the most heavily affected categories.
While these figures cover a broad range of electronic components, they reinforce a growing concern shared by many manufacturers: supply chain stability may become just as important as pricing over the coming years.
The warning is not limited to semiconductor manufacturers.
ROE Visual, a globally recognised LED display manufacturer, has also highlighted the growing impact of memory shortages on the professional AV industry.
David Morris, Sales Director for the UK and Ireland at ROE Visual, recently noted that rising memory costs are only part of the challenge. In his view, significantly longer delivery times are likely to become an even more critical issue over the next six to twelve months, as AI infrastructure projects continue competing for semiconductor resources.
According to Morris, the knock-on effects are already changing how LED display projects are planned. Reduced manufacturing flexibility for large-volume orders and longer project preparation cycles are becoming increasingly common.
As a result, ROE Visual has begun encouraging customers to forecast demand earlier and place orders further in advance, expecting this approach to become standard practice over the next year.
For system integrators and project owners, this message is particularly significant. It suggests that future procurement risks may be measured not only by component costs, but also by the ability to secure key parts when projects are scheduled to move into production.
The growing concern over memory supply can largely be traced back to one factor: the explosive expansion of AI computing infrastructure.
Modern AI models require enormous computing power to train and run efficiently. To support these workloads, data centres are deploying increasing numbers of AI accelerators equipped with High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). Compared with conventional DRAM, HBM delivers significantly higher bandwidth, but it also consumes more advanced manufacturing resources.
As demand for AI hardware continues to surge, memory manufacturers are naturally prioritising production for higher-value AI products. This shift is gradually reducing the manufacturing capacity available for conventional memory devices used in many professional electronics applications.
For the semiconductor industry, this represents a strategic production decision. For downstream industries, however, it introduces a new supply chain challenge.
Unlike short-term disruptions caused by logistics or unexpected events, this transition reflects a structural change in manufacturing priorities. As long as AI investment remains strong, production capacity is likely to continue favouring AI-related memory products.
The warning is not coming from chipmakers alone.
Over the past year, several research organisations and AV industry observers have reached similar conclusions, suggesting that the impact of memory shortages could extend across multiple segments of the Pro AV market.
Market research firm Omdia has identified digital signage, LCD displays and LED display products as some of the categories most likely to feel the effects of tighter memory supply. As these products rely on embedded processors, control boards and media processing hardware, any disruption in memory availability could influence manufacturing schedules and component procurement.
Digital signage consultancy invidis has also highlighted another important consequence. According to its analysis, higher costs for control chips, media processors and embedded boards are expected to flow through the supply chain, eventually affecting the price of finished AV products.
Meanwhile, US-based systems integrator CTI believes the impact will extend well beyond display hardware. The company expects rising memory costs to influence procurement across conference rooms, broadcast studios, mission-critical control rooms, houses of worship and educational AV installations.
Although each organisation focuses on a different part of the industry, their assessments point in the same direction: the consequences of tighter memory supply are unlikely to be limited to semiconductor manufacturers alone.
When component shortages occur, price increases usually receive the most attention.
However, the comments from ROE Visual suggest that availability may become an even more pressing concern.
For project-based industries such as Pro AV, delivery schedules often matter more than component prices. Large LED display installations, broadcast projects and control room deployments are typically planned months in advance. A delay in just one critical electronic component can postpone equipment assembly, on-site installation and final project delivery.
This helps explain why more manufacturers are encouraging customers to plan purchases earlier and improve demand forecasting. As procurement cycles become less predictable, supply chain planning is becoming an increasingly important part of project management rather than simply a purchasing function.
In other words, the industry’s biggest challenge may not be paying more for memory components—it may be ensuring they are available when projects are ready to move forward.
Whether the memory market reaches its tightest supply point in 2027 remains to be seen. However, one message from semiconductor manufacturers, AV suppliers and market analysts is already becoming increasingly clear: supply chain resilience is returning to the centre of business planning.
For many years, the Pro AV industry has focused on product innovation, display performance and project execution. Today, procurement strategy is becoming just as important. As electronic components become harder to secure, manufacturers and system integrators may need to place greater emphasis on long-term supplier relationships, inventory planning and demand forecasting.
The challenge is particularly relevant for project-driven markets. Unlike consumer electronics, many LED display, digital signage and broadcast projects are delivered against fixed installation schedules. Delays in obtaining key electronic components can affect manufacturing, logistics and on-site commissioning, making reliable procurement an increasingly important competitive advantage.
Rather than reacting to shortages after they occur, companies across the Pro AV ecosystem may need to prepare earlier and work more closely with supply chain partners to reduce uncertainty.
The latest market signals also carry an important message for the LED display sector.
Modern LED display systems rely on much more than LED panels alone. Receiving cards, sending controllers, media players, video processors and embedded control boards all depend on stable semiconductor supply. Although LED packages themselves are not directly affected by memory allocation decisions, many of the electronic systems surrounding an LED display are.
As a result, tighter memory supply could have a broader impact on production planning, project scheduling and product availability across the display industry.
This does not necessarily mean the industry is heading towards another global supply crisis. Instead, it highlights how increasingly interconnected today’s electronics supply chains have become. Decisions made in the AI computing market can eventually influence industries that appear, at first glance, to have little direct connection with artificial intelligence.
For LED display manufacturers, system integrators and project owners, maintaining closer communication with suppliers and planning procurement further in advance may become increasingly important over the coming years.
The discussion surrounding memory shortages is no longer limited to semiconductor companies.
Recent comments from SK hynix, together with observations from ROE Visual, GlobX, Omdia, invidis and CTI, all point towards the same trend: artificial intelligence is reshaping semiconductor production priorities, and those changes are beginning to influence the wider Pro AV supply chain.
While no one can predict exactly how the market will develop over the next several years, the warning signs are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Rising component costs may attract the headlines, but longer lead times and reduced supply flexibility could ultimately have a greater impact on manufacturers, system integrators and end users.
As the industry moves towards 2027, the question is no longer whether AI will influence the Pro AV market—it already is. The more important question is how quickly businesses can adapt to a changing semiconductor landscape where memory availability may become one of the industry’s biggest challenges.
No. While AI infrastructure is driving demand for advanced memory, tighter semiconductor production capacity can also affect conventional memory used in Pro AV equipment, digital signage, media servers and embedded control systems.
Modern LED display projects depend on many electronic components beyond the LED modules themselves. If memory-related components become more difficult to source, manufacturers could face longer production cycles and reduced scheduling flexibility.
Not necessarily. Several industry experts believe longer lead times and limited component availability could have a greater impact on project delivery than price increases alone.
Many manufacturers are already encouraging customers to forecast demand earlier and place orders further in advance to reduce the risk of project delays.
