Report: SSDs Rapidly Dropping in Price

News
By Wolfgang Gruener
published

When pushed into the mass market in 2009, SSD makers promised that 2010 would be the year of the mainstream SSD.

We have been waiting for a reasonable mainstream affordability since then, but it appears that we are now able to seriously consider solid state storage for computers even for those on a budget.

Dealnews analyzed SSD prices and concluded that high-capacity SSDs are now matching smaller drives in a per-GB price. According to the publication, per GB prices of 256 GB drives plunged from $1.37 in January to currently $0.48, which closely matches the 64 GB SSD per-GB price of $0.47. Of course, that price is still a far cry from HDDs, which currently sell for $0.07 per GB on the street ($65 for a mainstream, 1 TB HDD).

HDD makers still consider the $65 price point as mainstream, but SSDs that sell for as low as $120 are not as much a luxury anymore as they once were. Their benefits especially in specialty hardware, such as ultrabooks, may outweigh their premium for many users. Even if SSDs are still much more expensive than capacity-comparable HDDs, there are drives that may be large and cheap enough for a lot of customers

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Wolfgang Gruener
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51 Comments Comment from the forums
  • L0tus
    Great news! But for a few microseconds off my loading times they're still not cheap enough =
    Reply
  • way more than a few microseconds off loading times. The difference is significant
    Reply
  • ramicio
    Where is a 3.5" form factor? The server world still hasn't made 2.5" mainstream because 2.5" drives are for laptops. A 2.5" drive in a 3.5" bay is just a waste of space.
    Reply
  • ramicio
    L0tusGreat news! But for a few microseconds off my loading times they're still not cheap enough =
    You obviously have zero experience with SSDs.
    Reply
  • sherlockwing
    L0tusGreat news! But for a few microseconds off my loading times they're still not cheap enough =
    Actually more like 10-15 seconds, just some reviews on Techreport they compare HDD load time to SSD load time on their SSD reviews.
    Reply
  • waxdart
    Of course the price is dropping. I just bought one!
    Reply
  • Bloob
    waxdartOf course the price is dropping. I just bought one!Buy more, so I can get one too. ;)
    Reply
  • akopp21
    9416238 said:
    Where is a 3.5" form factor? The server world still hasn't made 2.5" mainstream because 2.5" drives are for laptops. A 2.5" drive in a 3.5" bay is just a waste of space.

    How would a 3.5" drive containing the same parts as a 2.5" drive be any less wasteful than a 2.5" drive?
    Reply
  • DRosencraft
    ramicioWhere is a 3.5" form factor? The server world still hasn't made 2.5" mainstream because 2.5" drives are for laptops. A 2.5" drive in a 3.5" bay is just a waste of space.
    There is no point in a 3.5" form factor. They can fit plenty of chips in the 2.5" size for added capacity. 3.5" on mechanical drives was primarily for accommodating larger platters for larger capacity. That's not an issue for SSDs, so to save manufacturing cost there's no need to make both 2.5" and 3.5" form factors. The server world mainly isn't switching because for them the price to make up the storage space of mechanical drives is huge. They'll have to switch eventually, and when they do they'll upgrade the racks at the same time. I would not consider this to be the biggest issue for them.
    Reply
  • @ramicio: Uhhhhhhhhh, so you want them to just put the drive into the chassis of a 3.5 form factor just to make it look pretty? I dont understand, what the hell are you getting at? And why do you feel the need to have a 3.5 size? I get the feeling you dont know the first thing about server management.
    Reply