SSD prices have been on the rise for the past few months, thanks largely to supply pressure from AI data centers. However, we may not have seen the peak yet, with Samsung reportedly increasing the price of its SSD NAND chips by a massive 100% in Q1 of this year.
This price doubling is unlikely to immediately affect retail SSDs, but it could mean that SSDs get even more expensive in the coming months. Not only are makers of the best SSDs likely to up their own prices to cover the increased cost of Samsung and other suppliers’ NAND chips, but AI data centers are likely to continue to put a strain on overall supply, in turn putting a premium on what stock is available to PC gamers.
News of this huge price increase comes via Korean tech news site ETnews. It states that the increase is directly “due to a surge in demand for NAND-based storage devices due to the spread of artificial intelligence” (machine translated). The site also goes on to say that “Samsung Electronics signed supply contracts with major customers late last year and implemented the increased prices starting in January,” indicating the price increase has long been on the cards.
ETnews also says that SK Hynix and SanDisk are expected to up their prices (the latter by 100%), which would mean the first, second, and fifth-largest producers of NAND flash chips may all be following this trend. NAND chips store data on SSDs, but are also used as storage in mobile phones and many other devices.
As well as demand from AI customers, the site points out that another strain on prices is the lack of increase in supply, with “no large-scale expansion of NAND flash capacity last year.” This is in part due to attempts to migrate production to newer, cutting-edge processes having been slower than expected.
All in all, it looks like a truly dire situation for SSD prices. So, even though prices are already high, it’s likely that any good deal you can find is worth grabbing now, as prices likely won’t drop for many months to come.