Today’s Question: I was looking at the Sandisk SSD drives you had recommended, but the price seemed to be almost double what you mentioned. Am I looking at the wrong drive, or did the price really go up that much?
Tim’s Quick Answer: SSD storage prices are skyrocketing right now. Sandisk has more than doubled the price for certain models of the Sandisk Extreme SSD drives that I recommend, so now isn’t a good time to buy SSD storage. However, this issue is forecast to continue through 2027 and possibly beyond.
More Detail: There is currently a significant shortage of the flash memory chips used in SSDs and other storage devices. This is leading to a dramatic increase in prices for flash storage devices. Most models of the Sandisk Extreme SSD storage devices I use and recommend have had their price increase by about double.
You may be able to find stock at some resellers that still represents the earlier lower price. However, that will likely change quickly. For example, B&H Photo has updated their price based on the latest increases, and that is reflected on other reseller sites I’ve checked as well.
In addition to the price increases, in the case of the Sandisk devices the latest model updates have been getting significant negative reviews indicating that drives are disconnecting randomly or even failing altogether. I therefore don’t recommend buying the Sandisk Extreme SSD drives for the time being. However, you’ll likely find that all other manufacturers will similarly increase their prices, as many have already done.
Much of the storage is being attributed to the increasing demand for high-speed storage capacity at data centers handling AI (artificial intelligence) processing. This issue has also led some manufacturers to shift away from the type of storage used for SSD drives and toward the faster storage used at many data centers. Forecasts suggest this shortage could extend into 2027 or even 2028.
If you need high-speed storage, the SSD devices that provide optimal performance are going to be considerably more expensive. Expect to pay more for storage than you could just days or weeks ago. If you need to add storage where performance isn’t as critical, such as for backup drives, you might consider purchasing traditional hard drives until the price of SSD storage starts to come down again.
Of course, there’s also no guarantee that when the flash memory shortage is resolved that retail prices for storage will come down all that quickly.
