Humanoid robots eyed as next driver of memory chip demand
Rising demand for low-power dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and storage in humanoid robots offers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix a potential new growth engine.
Boston Dynamics humanoid Atlas robots are displayed at the Hyundai Motor Group booth during the CES 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Jan. 6.REUTERS/YONHAP
As concerns over slowing AI growth resurface in the information technology industry and stock market, humanoid robots are emerging as a major new source of demand for memory chips.
With increasingly sophisticated humanoid robots projected to require hundreds of gigabytes of memory and storage capacity each, low-power, high-capacity dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) for robots could become a major revenue driver for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, following the success of high bandwidth memory (HBM) used in AI data centers.
The global market for DRAM used in humanoid robots' computing systems is projected to grow roughly 20-fold over five years, from 8,300 terabits this year to 172,000 terabits in 2030, according to market research firm Counterpoint Research on Sunday.
A humanoid robot's brain is a computing system that processes information collected from cameras, lidar sensors — which measure distances — and tactile sensors in real time, translating that data into physical actions.
Counterpoint Research said the amount of data that robots must store and process independently is rising sharply, which is driving rapid growth in their memory requirements.
The firm projects that DRAM capacity per robot will more than double from 19 gigabytes this year to 39 gigabytes by 2030.
Memory chipmakers share a similar outlook.
Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra predicted that physical AI, including humanoid robots, would become a major growth driver for the memory industry by the late 2020s during the company's earnings announcement for the June-to-August period on Sept. 30.
“Autonomous vehicles are the first major deployment of physical AI, which we believe will expand over time to humanoid robots and other intelligent autonomous systems,” Mehrotra said during the call.
A robot competes in the 400-meter during the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, China, on Aug. 23.AP/YONHAP
“Memory content in Level 4 and higher autonomous vehicles typically exceeds 200 gigabytes, while storage content reaches multiple terabytes, each more than an order of magnitude greater than in today’s Level 2+ and Level 3 semiautonomous vehicles,” he continued.
“With the anticipated increase in both units and memory content, physical AI can become a significant driver of memory and storage demand by the end of this decade.”
The CEO added that to target this market, the company has begun supplying customers with samples of LPDDR6, its next-generation low-power DRAM. LPDDR stands for low-power double data rate.
Because humanoid robots run on batteries and are highly sensitive to power consumption, analysts believe they will primarily use low-power DRAM and high-capacity NAND flash memory rather than the HBM used in data center servers.
Korean memory chipmakers are also accelerating the development of DRAM for humanoid robots.
Anticipating growth in the on-device AI market, where devices such as robots, autonomous vehicles and smartphones process AI workloads locally, companies are focusing on technologies that minimize power consumption while optimizing performance.
Samsung Electronics and SK hynix both showcased next-generation low-power DRAM, including LPDDR6, at CES 2026 earlier this year.
Samsung Electronics' LPDDR6, which won an Innovation Award at CES 2026 in Las Vegas in JanuarySAMSUNG ELECTRONICS
Samsung's LPDDR6 won a CES Innovation Award in recognition of its development as the industry's first next-generation mobile DRAM.
Samsung is also working to expand the use of storage devices originally developed for vehicles into humanoid robots. The company has introduced a removable automotive solid-state drive (SSD) adapted for physical AI applications.
“Our goal is for removable SSDs to become a standard solution for robotic platforms within five years,” a Samsung Electronics representative said.
SK hynix is working with Nvidia to develop low-power memory for the Jetson Thor robotics computing platform. Jetson Thor is reportedly equipped with 128GB of LPDDR5X memory.
“Memory demand is directly proportional to the number of robots deployed, while the amount of LPDDR installed in each robot is also steadily increasing,” said Lee Su-rim, an analyst at DS Investment & Securities.
“The faster the humanoid industry grows, the greater the potential for the memory industry to evolve into a structurally growing sector that is less dependent on traditional industry cycles.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
