Samsung is raising SSD prices — but it could be for a good reason, as AI boom starts to reach its peak

Samsung Electronics has announced plans to raise the price of its enterprise SSDs by 20-25% in Q2 of 2024. This is a significant increase from the initially projected 15%, with the price hike being attributed to the booming AI industry.

The past few weeks have seen a global shortage of NAND flash enterprise SSDs, a situation that is being blamed on high demand from new data centers and the rapid expansion of AI-related storage servers.

A semiconductor industry insider told BusinessKorea, “Server companies seeking to expand their storage capacity are rushing their SSD orders recently, and some products are even experiencing shortages, leading to considerations for increased production.”

Same price hike everywhere

Samsung significantly influences price decisions as it supplies about 50% of the enterprise SSD market. TrendForce estimates that where Samsung leads others will follow, with the 20-25% jump in price mirrored across the board.

TrendForce’s Bryan Ao says, “With large-capacity SSD orders experiencing low order fill rates, suppliers continue to influence price trends, likely forcing buyers to accept higher prices. As some buyers attempt to increase their inventory levels before the peak season in 2H24, Enterprise SSD contract prices are forecast to jump by 20–25% in Q2 - marking the highest rise across all product lines.”

This increase is unique to enterprise SSDs, with eMMC and consumer SSDs only getting 10-15% more expensive in Q2.

As The Register reports, “With much of the growth of the SSD market being propped up by AI-induced demand, there's lots riding on AI being a success. After all, if there is a bubble and it pops, not only will those super-expensive SSDs have become a pretty bad deal in retrospect, but SSD makers like Samsung will see a major source of increasing revenue evaporate. Just as long as the money for expensive computer components keeps coming, there's nothing to worry about. No pressure.”

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