CES, the world's largest information technology show, will make the "new memory economy" triggered by artificial intelligence a central theme of its next edition. With soaring memory chip prices spreading beyond home appliances to PCs, smartphones and gaming, the show will devote a separate session to shifts in the memory supply chain for the first time.
The Consumer Technology Association said on the 2nd that a conference titled "The New Memory Economy" will be held on Jan. 5, the day before CES 2027 opens. CES organizers said AI demand is shifting memory production away from consumer chips toward high-bandwidth memory for AI, reshaping global semiconductor supply chains and corporate strategies.
Memory makers including Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), SK hynix (000660.KS) and Micron have been increasing output of HBM and server DRAM. TrendForce projects HBM's share of total DRAM wafer input will rise to 30% by the end of next year from about 22% at the end of this year. Because HBM requires more wafers than commodity DRAM, a larger HBM share leaves less capacity for the general-purpose chips used in laptops and smartphones.
On Jan. 7, CES will hold a session titled "Gaming Through the Memory Crunch" to examine how the memory shortage is affecting game development schedules and hardware supply. The aim is to assess how surging memory demand from AI data centers is disrupting production and pricing of consumer IT products.
CES 2027 runs from Jan. 6 to 9 in Las Vegas. Confirmed keynote speakers are Stellantis Chief Executive Antonio Filosa and Waymo co-Chief Executive Tekedra Mawakana. Both will speak on the opening day, Jan. 6, with Filosa presenting future mobility strategy and Mawakana outlining Waymo's overseas expansion and the evolution of its autonomous driving platform. A separate session will look at the technological evolution of wearable products such as AI glasses.
On Jan. 7, the second day, sessions will cover "Physical AI in Action: Scaling Intelligent Robotics," the expansion of mobility connectivity and the future energy grid. On Jan. 8, the day before the show closes, sessions will include one on whether AI can be trusted and the standards being built behind AI innovation.
