--- title: "The storage supercycle is coming: By 2026, the output value will exceed $800 billion, and institutions believe that price increases may continue until the second half of 2027" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/288797852.md" description: "WSTS significantly revised its global semiconductor forecast, expecting a market value of USD 1.511 trillion by 2026. Driven by AI demand, memory chips are entering a super upcycle, with revenue expected to surge nearly 250% year-on-year in 2026, surpassing USD 803.9 billion in market value. China Merchants Securities pointed out that HBM is locked in by tech giants, and the supply-demand mismatch may lead to a trend of shortages and price increases continuing until the second half of 2027, with related concept stocks such as Eoptolink and TFC performing strongly" datetime: "2026-06-05T02:35:41.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/288797852.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/288797852.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/288797852.md) generator: "portal-rs" --- # The storage supercycle is coming: By 2026, the output value will exceed $800 billion, and institutions believe that price increases may continue until the second half of 2027 On June 5th, the communication equipment index rose significantly. As of the time of writing, the ChiNext Artificial Intelligence ETF (159243) surged over 1%, strongly pushing for a four-day winning streak. Its major holding "Yi Zhongtian" performed outstandingly, with Eoptolink rising over 5%, TFC rising over 4%, and Zhongji Xuchuang rising over 1%. Additionally, Guangku Technology rose over 12%, Liante Technology rose over 11%, Zhishang Technology rose over 6%, and Jin Xin Nuo, Taicheng Guang rose over 4%, with multiple stocks like Zhaolong Huliand, Yimikang, and Ruijie Network leading the gains. Industry Logic: WSTS significantly upgrades global semiconductor expectations, memory chips enter a super upcycle On the news front, the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) released its latest industry forecast, which further strengthens market confidence in the AI computing power mainline. Driven by the explosive growth in demand for AI large model training and inference, WSTS expects the global semiconductor market size to reach USD 1.511 trillion (approximately RMB 10.9 trillion) by 2026, and to further grow by 26.6% in 2027, climbing to USD 1.914 trillion (approximately RMB 12.9 trillion). It is noteworthy that memory chips have become the core engine of this round of semiconductor expansion cycle. WSTS data shows that global memory chip market revenue is expected to soar by 249.5% year-on-year in 2026, with output value exceeding USD 803.9 billion, becoming the core driving force for the growth of the semiconductor industry. Severe supply-demand mismatch: HBM locked by tech giants, traditional capacity continues to shrink CITIC Securities analysis points out that this round of memory prosperity is a typical AI-driven structural dividend, differing from the traditional market driven by cyclical replenishment in consumer electronics. The trends of shortages and price increases are likely to continue until the second half of 2027. On the demand side, the accelerated landing of generative large models and AI intelligences directly drives a leap in AI server demand. The storage capacity requirement for a single AI server is 8 to 10 times that of traditional servers. Among them, HBM high-bandwidth memory has been pre-locked for annual capacity by tech giants like NVIDIA, Google, and Microsoft. Meanwhile, the demand for smart cars, AI phones, and IoT devices is recovering, driving steady increases in NAND flash and general DRAM procurement, showing an expansion trend in storage demand across all categories and scenarios. On the supply side, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron control over 90% of global memory capacity. After experiencing deep losses in the previous industry cycle, leading manufacturers have significantly reduced production lines for traditional consumer-grade memory like DDR4, with over 85% of advanced process capacity shifted to high-margin HBM and DDR5 products. Traditional memory capacity continues to compress, while leading manufacturers' inventories have dropped to nearly four-year lows, directly pushing up chip prices due to shortages in the spot market. Since 2026, quarterly contract prices for DRAM and NAND have repeatedly seen increases of over 50% in a single quarter Excluding storage chips, logic chips benefit from the demand for AI computing power, with an expected year-on-year growth of 37.3%; analog chips and discrete devices also maintain a steady expansion trend. High "optical module" content index shows strong profit elasticity In the context of the dual prosperity of storage and AI computing power, index tools with high "optical module" content are expected to become key focuses for capital allocation. According to data, as of May 31, the weight of "optical module" related constituent stocks in the ChiNext AI Index exceeds 57%, with deep allocations in key leaders such as the "Yi Zhong Tian" portfolio (Eoptolink 18%, Zhongji Xuchuang 21%, TFC 11%), demonstrating stronger profit elasticity and offensive attributes compared to similar AI-themed indices. From a historical performance perspective, this index has achieved a cumulative increase of 266% over the past three years, significantly outperforming similar indices such as the Sci-Tech Innovation AI and CS AI. In terms of growth, its expected year-on-year net profit growth rate for 2025 is as high as 127.36%, far exceeding the overall level of the ChiNext Index. The high prosperity of the industry and the strong growth potential of constituent stocks are expected to create a dual resonance ### Related Stocks - [300502.CN](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/300502.CN.md) - [300394.CN](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/300394.CN.md) - [SOXL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SOXL.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [Suzhou TFC Optical Communication : Net profit surged 33.92% on strong AI and data center demand, with robust cash flow and margins](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296251200.md) - [Why SanDisk stock is getting its mojo back](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296107018.md) - [15:12 ETStorelocal Storage Expands Footprint With Four New Self-Storage Locations](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296645847.md) - [Comparing Apple With Industry Competitors In Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals Industry](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296336561.md) - [Assessing Apple's Performance Against Competitors In Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals Industry](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296088631.md) --- > **Disclaimer: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.**