Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology are reallocating up to 40% of advanced wafer capacity from automotive chips to high-bandwidth memory for AI data centers, creating a supply crunch that could disrupt vehicle production through the decade's end.
DRAM prices for new automotive contracts could rise 70% to 100% in 2026 compared to 2025 levels, with manufacturers phasing out older DDR4 and LPDDR4 technologies still widely used in vehicle cockpit and driver assistance systems by 2028.
Automakers have a narrow two-year window to redesign vehicle systems for newer LPDDR5 memory, as the majority of cockpit and advanced driver assistance designs planned for 2028 production still rely on legacy memory types that will soon be unavailable at any price.
