I believed the WD Black SN850X 2TB SSD in my gaming PC was expensive once I purchased it for $173 in 2024, however now that very same SSD prices $649, greater than what I paid for a lot of the elements in my PC mixed. The value on my WD Black drive almost quadrupled since November 2025, and shopper SSDs throughout the board are seeing comparable will increase, very like with RAM:
In line with worth developments from PC Half Picker, NVMe SSD costs started ticking upward in December 2025, with costs on 256GB to 4TB SSDs now double or triple what they had been just some months in the past, and persevering with to climb.
Like with RAM, demand from the AI business is swallowing up provide from a restricted variety of producers, resulting in a drastic discount within the stock that’s accessible to shoppers. In line with Counterpoint Analysis, the identical few manufacturers with the most important RAM market share additionally management the worldwide NAND market — Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron.
NAND flash is the kind of reminiscence used for SSDs, USB drives, and SD playing cards. It’s considerably quicker and extra energy-efficient than mechanical HDDs. In consequence, NAND storage is extra interesting for AI corporations and shoppers alike.
Even so, HDDs are cheaper for storing giant quantities of knowledge, like the massive datasets wanted for AI, which might clarify why HDD costs are additionally on the rise. For example, the 2TB Seagate Barracuda 3.5-inch HDD I’ve in my PC was $47 once I purchased it a number of years in the past, however now prices $90.
