Get Ready For an SSD Price War
Unnamed sources in the SSD industry are reporting that major suppliers such as Intel, Kingston Technology, Micron Technology, SanDisk and Samsung Electronics are gearing up for a price war. That's certainly good news for consumers as their needs for local storage on desktops and laptops are shifting to SSDs, which are faster and more reliable than mechanical hard drives.
On Thursday, the sources claimed that Micron has reduced the sales of its NAND flash to other companies because it plans to double its shipments of Crucial-branded SSDs quarter on quarter. Meanwhile, SSD rival Kingston is also ramping up its SSD shipments to 600,000 units per month. Sources state that the company is competing with Samsung and SanDisk for the #1 SSD vendor spot.
Currently, SanDisk is ranked as the second largest consumer-based SSD supplier, with a 16 percent share of the market in 2013. That's a big jump compared to its position in 2012, in which it was ranked sixth with a mere 6 percent claim of the SSD market. However, SanDisk has also been "aggressive" in the enterprise segment and is expecting to reach $1 billion USD by 2016.
Digitimes Research points out that Intel just launched the 9-series chipsets that natively support M.2 SSDs. These M.2 SSDs are compatible with both SATA and PCIe interfaces, and could replace the 2.5-inch SATA 3 SSDs we use today. The 9-series launch will likely push competitors into churning out related SSDs in the second half of this year.
Research company DRAMeXchange is saying something somewhat different, reporting that SSD pricing is expected to rise because there's a temporary supply shortage of NAND Flash memory. This shortage stems from manufacturers who are moving to new NAND production methods, and who are switching to smaller NAND.
MyCE reports that NAND Flash manufacturers are working hard to bring the prices down. By shrinking the NAND cells, manufacturers can cut costs as the number of chips on a wafer increases. However, prices are unlikely to drop as they have in the last several years, and right now prices are close to $0.50 USD per gigabyte for the cheaper SSDs, the report states.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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deadbc77 Lower prices,you say? Count me in. I'm always looking for good deals on SSD's,weather i need them or not.Reply -
carowden Reply13548674 said:Come on, someone - hit $199 for a 512GB SSD!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148821&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL062014&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL062014-_-EMC-062014-Index-_-SSD-_-20148821-L0G
i mean its 205 (with EMCPDHP92), whats 5 bucks? haha why not like $125-$150? id love to see them drop that much -
qlum I am ready for a price war, Maybe if the prices drop enough I will upgrade my 128gb to a nice 500gb or something.Reply
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thundervore I have 2x 120GB intel 520 series in RAID 0 for my boot drive and programs, then a 3TB drive for the user profiles and games. A price war for most users are useless because those that want a SSD already have an SSD. This will only benifit newcomers or those that brought into those 64GB SSD years ago and looking to upgrade.Reply -
jimmysmitty Reply13549009 said:13548674 said:Come on, someone - hit $199 for a 512GB SSD!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148821&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL062014&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL062014-_-EMC-062014-Index-_-SSD-_-20148821-L0G
i mean its 205 (with EMCPDHP92), whats 5 bucks? haha why not like $125-$150? id love to see them drop that much
Considering the failure rate I had with those at a shop I worked at, I wouldn't use it if it was free. Rather get a Intel or Samsung for quality over quantity.
I hope this does push SSDs to lower than $.50/GB. Right now HDDs are at around $0.07/GB or less. If we could get to at least $0.15/GB it would be so nice. I wouldn't mind paying $150 for a 1TB SSD. -
Damn_Rookie Reply
You've seen high failure rates on that drive already? Didn't the Crucial MX100 only come out about a month ago (it's a replacement for the M500)? Do you mean you've seen many failures on Crucial brand SSDs in general?13549099 said:13549009 said:13548674 said:Come on, someone - hit $199 for a 512GB SSD!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148821&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL062014&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL062014-_-EMC-062014-Index-_-SSD-_-20148821-L0G
i mean its 205 (with EMCPDHP92), whats 5 bucks? haha why not like $125-$150? id love to see them drop that much
Considering the failure rate I had with those at a shop I worked at, I wouldn't use it if it was free. Rather get a Intel or Samsung for quality over quantity.
I'd certainly agree with you that Intel and Samsung are safe choices for SSDs with regards to reliability. There are some others I'd consider, depending on reviews/price. -
DookieDraws Lower the prices and keep them low! Not just for a month or two, either. I want much lower prices for those larger SSDs, too!Reply
They've made a lot of money off of us with those inflated SSD prices for many years now, it's time they do us a favor and lower those prices!
Hell, let's not stop at just SSDs! Let's lower the prices of CPUs, GPUs. PSUs, RAM, Motherboards, Cases, Windows Operating systems and everything else that costs a testicle and big toe to own!
It's no mystery as to why pc component sells are down. EVERYTHING is too damn expensive! -
knowom ReplyLower the prices and keep them low! Not just for a month or two, either. I want much lower prices for those larger SSDs, too!
Current generation hardware is, but a generation or two earlier is bargain bin cheap even if it's better than some of the current gen stuff value wise.
They've made a lot of money off of us with those inflated SSD prices for many years now, it's time they do us a favor and lower those prices!
Hell, let's not stop at just SSDs! Let's lower the prices of CPUs, GPUs. PSUs, RAM, Motherboards, Cases, Windows Operating systems and everything else that costs a testicle and big toe to own!
It's no mystery as to why pc component sells are down. EVERYTHING is too damn expensive!