TECH NEWS – While the price increase for old HDDs is understandable (less mainstream technology, fewer manufacturers, so not cheap to buy), SSDs will be more expensive than ever.

We have already written about the fact that SSDs will become more expensive and that the market will try to correct this after the pandemic, when many people bought up stocks that were then unsold and the manufacturers wanted to get rid of them cheaply, which was only at a loss. That is why, for example, an NVMe SSD is now more expensive (we have certainly seen a 20-25% price increase, and it could be even more) than it was a year ago. But again, artificial intelligence needs storage, and the storage industry is making a killing because of the machine refresh cycles.

TrendForce has reported that both Western Digital and Seagate have informed their retail partners that they will have to significantly increase the price of their old mechanical storage (HDDs) and SSDs. Here is the letter from Seagate: “As we have previously communicated, demand continues to recover in several segments of our business and our reduced manufacturing capacity is limiting our ability to meet all of our customers’ demand and resulting in longer lead times. In addition, our costs continue to be impacted by global inflationary pressures. As a result, we will be implementing price increases effective immediately on new orders and demand in excess of previously committed volumes. Supply constraints are expected to continue and we expect prices to increase further in the coming quarters.

We also ask for your continued cooperation in working with your account representatives to balance short-term and long-term demand needs. Our ability to accommodate unplanned increases and changes in demand is limited, so please ensure that any changes to your orders are communicated as early as possible. While we understand that this change may present challenges, we hope for your support and understanding in this matter. Your account manager can provide more details on the changes as needed. Thank you for your business and continued partnership,” Seagate wrote.

TrendForce had previously announced a 25% price increase. To reach the optimal price level, the price will need to increase by 40%, so the total price increase could be as high as 65%. So be prepared for a faster, higher-quality 1TB NVMe SSD to cost over $150.

Source: WCCFTech, TrendForce