Due to a reduction in production output by the largest NAND supplier, SSD prices are increasing again.

(Image credit: Samsung)

Last year was a great time to buy SSDs as you could get a couple of terabytes of fast storage from top brands for less than $100. However, this is not the case now. Samsung, the largest flash memory supplier, has reduced its production by 50%, which means that SSD prices will continue to rise due to the dwindling inventory of flash memory chips.

This news isn't surprising as the industry had already been discussing reducing output. However, the sheer magnitude of the decrease is alarming and other NAND manufacturers like Kioxia, Micron, and SK Hynix are also expected to reduce their production. By limiting the supply, the high demand will lead to a rise in prices. This trend has been going on for years due to the growth in AI supercomputers that require thousands of medium-capacity, high-speed flash memory chips.

However, not all is lost as some suppliers may choose to do the opposite of Samsung. Chinese manufacturers like YMTC, whose memory chips are used by Silicon Power, ADATA, and others, may see this as an opportunity to flood the market with cheap NAND flash. While the traditional server market still prefers traditional HDDs for long-term storage, SSDs are making headway in this area too.