By Hyunjoo Jin, Heekyong Yang and Wen-Yee Lee

SEOUL (Reuters) -The global rush by chipmakers to produce AI chips is tightening supply of less glamorous chips used in smartphones, computers and servers, spurring panic buying by some customers and a surge in their prices, industry executives and analysts said.

The unexpected ripple effect of the AI boom is giving a much-needed boost to memory chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics, which has lagged rivals in offering advanced AI chips and a rally in their share prices.

Supply of the more mundane semiconductors has become so tight that the global memory chip industry is poised to head into what some analysts call a “super cycle”, as device makers frantically stock up on memory chips, executives said.

“Within the last month or two, ther

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