2026 to 2030 HBM sensitivity model · stocks & flows

AI HBM Demand Calculator

Additive memory model: resident weights plus KV cache plus scratch, slack, and redundancy. Memory need is a stock: the HBM that must be installed and lit to serve the year’s workload, in exabytes (EB) — one EB is a billion gigabytes, about the memory on ~3 million AI accelerators. Supply is a flow that becomes a stock: the world builds EB per year, a share of each year’s output goes to inference rather than training, older cohorts serve at a discount, and everything retires after ~5 years. The verdict compares the need against that surviving serving fleet.

Assumptions

Start with a scenario, then drag any dial to test it — the verdict updates live as you go.

Scenario
1.8×need ÷ fleet
A real, structural shortage

2030 memory need0.0 EB
2030 serving fleet0.0 EB
Need
Fleet

Memory need by grossed bucket vs serving fleet

Bars stack to the installed HBM the year’s workload needs, after redundancy and fixed utilization. The dashed blue line is the surviving serving fleet (recent cohorts of output × inference share); the dotted gray line is what’s built each year. Hover a year for exact numbers.

Formula audit

Additive buckets + fleet accounting

Yearly model

Year Tokens/mo Replica index Context bucket Weights KV cache Scratch Total need Built/yr China (walled) Serving fleet Balance
Disclaimer & disclosures

Memory Analyst is an independent research site, written by one person for discussion, education, and frankly entertainment. It is not financial, investment, legal, tax, accounting, or procurement advice, it is not personalized to you, and it does not account for your objectives, risk tolerance, or situation. Nothing here is a recommendation, solicitation, or offer to buy or sell any security, private investment, memory product, GPU, contract, or related asset, and nothing creates an advisory, fiduciary, or client relationship. “Alex Corrino” writes independently on a best-effort, amateur basis and, in connection with this site, is not acting as a registered investment adviser, broker-dealer, or licensed professional. If you want advice, hire someone licensed to give it. This is for informational and entertainment purposes only.

Now the part that matters most: the author holds positions in some of the companies discussed here and may be long and/or short. The names that come up — Micron, SK hynix, Samsung, NVIDIA, AMD, and others — are examples of what gets covered, not a list of current holdings or any representation of what the author owns at a given moment. Positions, and those of family or related accounts, can change at any time without notice, and there is no obligation to disclose, update, or correct them. The author is not paid by, and has no affiliate or sponsorship relationship with, any company mentioned. Assume a real, built-in conflict of interest, assume the content may be self-serving, and read it that way.

The essay, calculator, charts, monitor, and model outputs are scenario analysis built from public information, estimates, simplifications, AI-assisted tools, and the assumptions you or the author happen to pick. They may be wrong, stale, incomplete, or internally inconsistent, and HBM supply, AI demand, model architecture, export controls, pricing, yields, packaging capacity, and serving efficiency all move fast. All of it is provided as-is, with no warranties of any kind and no duty of accuracy or completeness; content and the site itself may change or disappear at any time without notice. Forward-looking statements and estimates are guesses, not guarantees. Past performance and prior calls are not indicative of future results, any wins are not typical, and investing involves real risk, including the possible total loss of your money.

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