The ongoing shortage of memory products is now forcing tech behemoths, including Microsoft, Google, and Meta, to station their procurement executives within South Korea as protracted negotiations with Samsung and SK hynix continue.
Even so, Google is now resorting to punitive measures to retaliate against executives who lacked the foresight to sign long-term agreements (LTAs) with major memory solutions providers.
Google now firing executives tasked with ensuring an adequate supply of memory products, while Microsoft executives are reportedly "storming out of meetings" as an all-out war breaks out
The ongoing shortage of memory products - HBM and LPDDR in particular - is now forcing Google, Microsoft, Meta, and other hyperscalers to prostrate themselves at the altars of major memory solutions providers such as Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron, transforming the Korean headquarters of these companies into a veritable hive of activity as protracted procurement negotiations continue.
According to a new report out of South Korea, Microsoft executives recently visited the headquarters of SK hynix to hash out a new memory-focused LTA. However, when informed that it would be "difficult" to supply memory products under the conditions demanded by Microsoft, one of the Redmond giant's executives "stormed out of the meeting" in anger.
As the HBM production capacity at Samsung and SK hynix is already running at full steam, AI hyperscalers such as Microsoft, Google, and Meta are now placing open-ended memory-related orders, accepting any HBM volume at any price.
Even so, these anecdotes are nothing when compared with the sheer anger bubbling over at Google, which needs HBM for its bespoke AI accelerators, called TPUs. In fact, Google is reported to have fired a procurement executive after receiving a decidedly negative "impossible" response from SK hynix and Micron to its request for additional HBM volume. Do note that Samsung currently provides around 60 percent of the HBM that is mounted on its TPUs. Google is said to have held the executive personally responsible for lacking the foresight to sign LTAs ahead of time.
Of course, when a disruption as severe as the ongoing memory crunch emerges, so do copious opportunities. Big tech companies are now expanding their hiring in Asia, especially for procurement managers, to better manage their supply chains.
In fact, Google recently went so far as to post a job opening for a Global Memory Commodity Manager, seeking a sourcing strategies expert for data-center memory products such as DRAM and NAND flash. Similarly, Meta is also planning to hire dedicated Memory Silicon Global Sourcing Managers.
Of course, the ongoing shortage is also affecting titans such as Apple, which is now being forced to pay a premium on its own LPDDR5X sourcing, to the tune of 230 percent. This comes as we recently reported that some of Apple's LTAs with major memory solutions providers are also set to expire come January, setting the stage for renewed price hikes.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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