Client SSD prices are predicted to fall by between 5 and 10% in Q4 2024, according to a new report by TrendForce analysts. The report claims that consumers are expected to benefit from reduced pricing due to a fortunate mix of increased production and weakened demand. Other NAND Flash product segments addressing eMMC/UFS and 3D NAND wafer buyers are also expected to see lower prices in the run-up to the New Year. However, enterprise SSD buyers may experience a lower single-digit percentage price bump.
Looking back at Q3 2024, some tiny but welcome price drops were seen in client (consumer) SSDs. We covered news of several SSD bargains cropping up over recent months and during the Prime sales event. However, the news from TrendForce indicates that pricing will continue to get keener for the rest of 2024, so consumer budgets could stretch to higher-capacity SSDs if things pan out as expected.
As mentioned in the intro, the price drops we have seen and expect are due to two major factors. Firstly, flash NAND producers have more NAND chips with greater capacities rolling off their production lines than ever before. Firms can artificially cut production, a move that some economists will balk at. However, the enterprise segment is holding up well, so a little diversion of focus and resources might work better for industry players.
TrendForce also cites weaker demand as the expected lowered NAND pricing is due to weaker demand. The firm says that AI PCs haven’t taken off as rapidly as they could have, and we continue to wait for compelling AI applications.
The other NAND flash business segment that our readers may be interested in – eMMC and UFS, typically used by mobile devices – may see the biggest price drops in Q4. TrendForce says that the smartphone market was mostly flat in Q3, and in Q4, this important component could get up to 13% cheaper. It explains that this will be largely due to limited transaction volume as device makers deplete inventory and resist price increases.
If you want to see the best client SSD prices on the market right now, have a look at our SSD Price Index 2024, which was updated just a few hours ago with the best deals for 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB SSD models – as well as a separate table for super-fast PCIe Gen5 SSDs.
