The AI ​​RAM shortage is also driving up SSD prices

I thought the WD Black SN850X 2TB SSD in my gaming PC was expensive when I bought it for $173 in 2024, but now The same SSD costs $649more than I paid for most of the parts in my computer combined. The price of my WD Black drive has nearly quadrupled since November 2025, and consumer SSDs across the board are seeing similar increases. Much like with RAM:

According to price trends from Computer parts pickerNVMe SSD prices started to rise in December 2025, with prices for 256GB to 4TB SSDs now being double or triple what they were just a few months ago, and continuing to rise.

As with RAM, demand from the AI ​​industry is swallowing up supply from a limited number of manufacturers, resulting in a significant reduction in inventory available to consumers. According to Counterpoint Research, the same few brands are the biggest RAM market share also Control the global NAND market – Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron.

NAND flash is the type of memory used for SSD drives, USB drives, and SD cards. It is much faster and more energy efficient than mechanical hard drives. As a result, NAND storage is becoming more attractive to AI companies and consumers alike.

However, hard drives are more cost-effective for storing large amounts of data, such as the massive data sets needed for artificial intelligence, which may explain why hard drives are more expensive. Also on the rise. For example, Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5-inch hard disk My computer was $47 when I bought it a few years ago, but now it costs $90.