Phison says NAND shortage has no end in sight as orders are booked into 2Q27

The NAND shortage reflects a structural imbalance driven by AI infrastructure buildout colliding with consumer electronics recovery. Technically, high-density 3D NAND capacity is being diverted to AI servers, starving SSD and mobile segments of wafer allocation—forcing controller vendors like Phison (Taiwan, China) to redesign firmware for scarcer TLC/QLC resources. Compliance risks escalate: U.S. firms like Micron face CHIPS Act constraints on overseas capacity reallocation, while Chinese memory makers struggle with equipment access, deepening global supply fragmentation. Samsung and SK Hynix will likely lock in long-term contracts and raise prices, converting volatility into pricing power. Over the next 18 months, a 'capacity tiering' ecosystem will emerge—premium dies reserved for AI workloads, while consumer devices absorb performance downgrades or cost pass-throughs, permanently reshaping industry profit pools.