AI RAM Crunch Pushes SSD Prices Higher

SSD prices have surged in the AI RAM crunch, with some models nearly quadrupling.

The Verge reports that what began as a supply snag for memory used in AI workloads is rippling into consumer storage. Take the WD Black SN850X 2TB drive: it sold for about $173 in 2024 but now commands around $649, a jump that would have felt impossible a year ago. Other high-end SSDs aren’t spared. The Samsung 990 Pro 4TB, once about $320, is inching toward the $1,000 mark in many retail channels. The pattern isn’t isolated to flagship models—price pressures are leaking into the broader SSD market, including external drives.

The ripple effects extend beyond internal PCIe NVMe costs. In March, SanDisk external SSDs at the Apple Store saw price spikes around 200 percent, a move that touches everyday portable storage used by students, creators, and remote workers. And for photographers and videographers, Sony’s announcement that it’s suspending orders for SD and CFexpress cards underscored a wider memory constraint that stretches beyond the PC gaming desk.

What’s driving this beyond a typical supply hiccup? The AI boom is pulling more memory—both DRAM and flash—through the same supply chain channels that power everyday storage. While the Verge focuses on price movements, industry observers say the squeeze isn’t a one-off blip. AI workloads demand faster, larger caches and wider bandwidth, which means memory makers allocate more capacity to enterprise and data-center products, leaving consumer SSD SKUs in a tug-of-war for the chips and controller tech that feed them. The result is higher bill-of-materials for drives that used to be “nice-to-have” upgrades and are suddenly harder to justify at current street prices.

For buyers, the sticker shock translates into real-world decisions. Gamers upgrading rigs, content creators editing 4K footage, and PC builders budgeting for next-gen platforms find themselves weighing the cost of premium storage against performance gains. The price curves show that the biggest jumps are concentrated in larger capacities and flagship lines; midrange options may lag behind the worst of the sprint, but they’re not immune. That means a two-drive upgrade or a 2TB drive with strong IO is suddenly less economical than a year ago, even for enthusiasts who care about load times and resale value.

Practitioner insights from the trenches:

The squeeze is asymmetric. High-capacity, high-performance NVMe drives are leading price increases, while more modest options lag behind — for now. If you don’t need the latest top-end speeds, you may get more value per dollar by sticking to smaller capacities or earlier-generation SKUs that still meet your needs.

The memory bottleneck isn’t limited to internal drives. External SSDs and memory cards are feeling the pressure in parallel, so buyers contemplating portable storage should expect both higher sticker prices and tighter availability for the near term.

Timing matters. Market normalization hinges on supply realignments and AI demand tapering. For most consumers, waiting for a price dip or promotional window could save a few hundred dollars on a high-end drive, though a bargain can’t be guaranteed in the near term.

Bottom line: if your current setup runs fine on existing storage, waiting for price relief is prudent. If you absolutely need an upgrade now, expect premium pricing on 2TB–4TB NVMe drives and be prepared for potential delays or substitutions toward older generations or alternative interfaces.

Sources

The AI RAM shortage is also driving up SSD prices