FINANCE

BofA Projects $2 Trillion Memory Market by 2030 as Capital Shifts to Asia

Published: Sep. 22, 2026 11:01 p.m. GMT+8

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An electronic board in the dealing room at Woori Bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, shows the exchange rate of the South Korean won against the U.S. dollar and the closing prices of the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indexes on Sept. 18, 2026. Photo: IC Photo

The global memory chip market is projected to double to $2 trillion by 2030 as artificial intelligence infrastructure demands accelerate a rotation of global capital into Asian markets, according to Bank of America Corp.

The forecast underscores Asia’s central role as the manufacturing core for global AI hardware. Institutional investors are increasingly redeploying funds from the United States to tap the region’s faster economic expansion and specialized technology ecosystems.

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BofA projects memory chip market doubling to $2 trillion by 2030, with capital rotating to Asia as APAC GDP grows ~5% versus ~2% elsewhere.
South Korea’s KOSPI surged 116% to record 9,385.6, then fell 43%; foreign investors sold $120 billion net, though BofA sees fundamentals intact.
China’s AI sector splits into three tiers, with profitability forming a “smile curve”: strong upstream components and downstream hyperscalers, weak middle software.

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Who’s Who

Bank of America Corp.: Bank of America Corp. projected the global memory chip market will double to $2 trillion by 2030, driven by AI infrastructure demand. Its analysts spoke at the BofA Securities 2026 Asia Pacific conference, highlighting Asia's central role in AI hardware, with insights on South Korea's chip sector, China's three-tier AI landscape, and shifting global capital flows into Asian markets.

Morgan Stanley: Morgan Stanley data show foreign institutional selling in South Korea accelerated the KOSPI's July pullback. Overseas investors offloaded a net 165.4 trillion won ($120 billion) in KOSPI shares by July 30, including 152.3 trillion won from the technology sector.

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