🧠 Technology & AI mixed · 6–18 months
A what‑if from the future

What if an HBM4 yield wall leaves SK Hynix the sole supplier?

An HBM4 yield wall leaving SK Hynix the sole volume supplier rations Rubin-class parts and spikes memory prices — a supply shock that pressures TSMC on output while concentrating pricing power in the one supplier. Echoes the 2017-18 DRAM shortage that handed memory makers record margins. Forward angle: roots correctly flag semiconductor_risk high and ai_capex positive — demand is fine; the asymmetry is single-source supplier concentration (SK Hynix the winner, Micron/Samsung the laggards).

24%
our model probability
over 6–18 months
prediction markets — wisdom of the crowd
loading live odds…
Empirically anchored 24% · 90% range 3–45% · 40 analogues · measured class supply_chain 26% in 18 mo · 3% held back for the unknown
how we built this number — every step
Measured class rate — supply_chain ≈0.2052/yr → 26% in 18 mo26%
Analyst prior · editorial share 100% of the class40%
Pooled · weight 87%25%
Crowd — no liquid market
Reserve 3% · no extremizing (×1.0)25%
Published24%

The class rate is measured from our dated, sourced event library (decade-normalized Poisson — the full table is public at base_rates.json). The variant’s share within its class is the analyst’s editorial call, published so you can audit it. A wider range means thinner precedent. Full recipe: methodology · scored at Reality Check.

The butterfly cascade

How this trigger trickles across markets, left → right — the root shock, its first‑order moves, then the ripple effects. Drag any node; tap a market for its real price history.

Resolution timeline — how this probability is moving

Our model's odds (gold) over time vs the crowd's (Polymarket, blue), from the past toward the 6–18 months horizon. Each dot is a real macro event that nudged the probability — green pushed it up, red pushed it down. Tap a dot for the source. The gold path is an illustrative reconstruction anchored to today's estimate — real dated events, not a live re-estimate history.

loading the timeline…

What it would mean

If this plays out, it is a mixed shock. HBM4's stacking yield wall leaves SK Hynix the only volume supplier, rationing Rubin-class accelerators and spiking memory prices. The trigger decomposes into signed root‑shocks — AI capex ▲ · Semiconductor supply risk ▲ — which propagate through our causal graph to the markets below.

If it happens — the markets it would move

Biggest moves first. Projected moves are cascade-model priors; hist A–B% = what comparable past events actually did (measured abnormal returns), and model prior · unmeasured marks markets with no analogue backing yet. Tap any market for its price history.

MarketClassProjected move
1TSMC TSMon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.7%
hist -1.09–-0.55%
2ASML ASMLon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.9%
hist -1.32–+0.06%
3Nvidia NVDAon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.7%
hist -0.79–+0.6%
4Semiconductors SMHon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.5%
hist -0.46–+0.16%
5AMD AMDon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.4%
hist -0.22–-0.1%
6Marvell MRVLon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.4%
hist -1.75–+0.5%
7Qualcomm QCOMon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.3%
hist -3.85–+1.17%
8Intel INTCon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.2%
hist -3.24–+1.16%

Probable recommendation

If the scenario above plays out, the probable cross‑asset positioning → a scenario‑conditional read, not personalized investment advice
Long
For a common-man portfolio: Mixed for a typical portfolio — the move is more about rotation than direction. Favour the winners over the losers below rather than net exposure.

Historical precedent — what analogous events actually did

Across 40 analogous events (overlap‑weighted), as abnormal returns — market beta stripped, so it's the event's own effect, not the market backdrop. Shown at 20 days (persistent) and 5 days (immediate); ↺ fades = the two horizons disagree. Confidence = consistency × sample × significance.

TSMC slumps as DeepSeek roils AI-chip demand assumptions 2025-02 Megacap AI-capex doubt selloff 2024-07 Nikkei 225 surpasses its 1989 bubble peak 2024-02 CHIPS and Science Act signed 2022-07 Micron's weak FQ2 guidance sparks a sharp December selloff 2024-12 Marvell's Q3 FY2025 AI-silicon results drive a record surge 2024-12 TSMC's Q3 2024 blowout lifts shares on surging AI demand 2024-10 ASML bookings-miss crash 2024-10 Nvidia slips despite a Q2 FY2025 earnings beat 2024-08 Report of a Blackwell design flaw signals a multi-month delay 2024-08 Trump 'Taiwan should pay for defense' chip selloff 2024-07 Nvidia becomes world's most valuable company 2024-06 ARM's first earnings as a public company spark a huge rally 2024-02 Neuralink implants its first human brain-computer interface 2024-01 ARM debuts on Nasdaq with a 25% first-day pop 2023-09 China imposes gallium and germanium export controls 2023-07 Nvidia AI-guidance blowout ignites the automation/AI capex wave 2023-05 Alibaba announces historic split into six business units 2023-03 OpenAI releases GPT-4 2023-03 TSMC cuts 2023 capex on chip-demand downturn 2023-01 ChatGPT launches 2022-11 Netflix subscriber-loss crash 2022-04 Meta 2022-02 Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7B 2022-01 Robinhood IPO on Nasdaq 2021-07 Didi removed from China app stores after NYSE IPO 2021-07 Ever Given Suez Canal blockage 2021-03 Credit Suisse freezes Greensill supply-chain funds 2021-03 SolarWinds SUNBURST supply-chain hack disclosed 2020-12 AlphaFold cracks the protein-folding problem 2020-11 Ant Group's record $34.5B IPO suspended 2020-11 Jack Ma's Bund Summit speech attacking China financial regulators 2020-10 WeWork withdraws IPO registration 2019-09 Huawei added to Entity List + ICT executive order 2019-05 Nvidia crypto-glut guidance crash 2018-11 AlphaGo defeats Lee Sedol 2016-03 Thailand floods hard-disk-drive supply shock 2011-10 China curbs rare-earth exports to Japan 2010-09 Eyjafjallajokull volcano European airspace shutdown 2010-04 Nasdaq Composite dot-com bear-market bottom 2002-10
AssetHistory saysAbnormal (20d · 5d)HitnConfidencevs cascade
US dollar DXYSHORT-0.2% · 5d +-0.0%64%40 0.22·
Gold XAULONG+1.1% · 5d -0.5% ↺ fades64%40 0.21·
AMD AMDSHORT-0.0% · 5d -2.7%61%40 0.17✓ matches cascade
QCOM QCOMSHORT-3.4% · 5d -3.3%61%40 0.17✓ matches cascade
INTC INTCSHORT-2.9% · 5d -3.5%57%40 0.13✓ matches cascade
ASML ASMLSHORT-0.8% · 5d -2.2%57%40 0.11✓ matches cascade
10y yield DGS10LONG+3bp · 5d +1bp57%40 0.11·
MRVL MRVLSHORT-1.5% · 5d -2.1%57%40 0.10✓ matches cascade
High-yield credit HYGSHORT-0.1% · 5d +0.2% ↺ fades56%39 0.09·
TSM TSMSHORT-0.1% · 5d -1.3%55%40 0.08✓ matches cascade
SMH SMHLONG+0.4% · 5d -0.9% ↺ fades52%40 0.04⚠ differs
Volatility VIXLONG+2.5% · 5d -0.0% ↺ fades52%40 0.04·
NVDA NVDALONG+1.0% · 5d -3.1% ↺ fades39%40 0.00⚠ differs
Bitcoin BTCLONG+2.8% · 5d -1.4% ↺ fades45%36 0.00·

Why this probability

HBM4 yield concentration on SK Hynix is the consensus path; rationing/price spikes likely. A base‑rate‑anchored prior, continuously scored against what actually happens — not a forecast.

Methodology. Probability and impact are anchored to history and scored against what actually happens — wins and losses, in public, at Reality Check. Crowd odds live from Polymarket & Kalshi. By Vikas Singh, Quantitative Strategist. Updated 2026-07-03.