Bad news for consumers yet again as Samsung force price hikes in Solid State Dives and Hard Disk Drives (SSD & HDD) prices.
SSD & HDD prices are set to rise once again. Not due to flooding of the factories as happened a few years ago but due to component shortages.
The factories producing the basic components of both types of drive had been down sizing due to falling sales to the HDD manufacturers who had cut manufacturing to the bone due to lack of demand.
Samsung switched manufacture to Enterprise SSDs, which created a demand in that arena (and a lot more profit) which meant they were diverting more resources into that area which left a gap in the bottom of the market that couldn't be filled.
Why couldn't it be filled?
Because manufacture of the NAND chips used in the SSD had been cut to such a degree that it's now almost impossible to catch up with current demand. This has led to a shortage of NAND chips which in turn has led to higher prices.
The higher prices of SSDs has led to a resurgence in HDD sales. Great but, as component manufacture had also been cut because of the gaining of popularity of the SSD, there are now shortages in this area also which has led to the same problems as with the SSD - a shortage of HDDs (which also use NAND chips).
So why is it Samsungs fault?
They are not releasing their manufacture of NAND as they normally would and are buying up other stocks to satisfy demand for their Enterprise SSDs.
Unless the other manufacturers out there are able to revamp production, we could soon see a Samsung monopoly in the drive market, and that would be bad.
I would never choose a Samsung HDD over another brand if I had a choice. Give me HGST or WD any time. Samsung may be the market leaders in SSD but SSDs are still not as durable as a good old fashioned HDD.
SSD & HDD prices are set to rise once again. Not due to flooding of the factories as happened a few years ago but due to component shortages.
The factories producing the basic components of both types of drive had been down sizing due to falling sales to the HDD manufacturers who had cut manufacturing to the bone due to lack of demand.
Samsung switched manufacture to Enterprise SSDs, which created a demand in that arena (and a lot more profit) which meant they were diverting more resources into that area which left a gap in the bottom of the market that couldn't be filled.
Why couldn't it be filled?
Because manufacture of the NAND chips used in the SSD had been cut to such a degree that it's now almost impossible to catch up with current demand. This has led to a shortage of NAND chips which in turn has led to higher prices.
The higher prices of SSDs has led to a resurgence in HDD sales. Great but, as component manufacture had also been cut because of the gaining of popularity of the SSD, there are now shortages in this area also which has led to the same problems as with the SSD - a shortage of HDDs (which also use NAND chips).
So why is it Samsungs fault?
They are not releasing their manufacture of NAND as they normally would and are buying up other stocks to satisfy demand for their Enterprise SSDs.
Unless the other manufacturers out there are able to revamp production, we could soon see a Samsung monopoly in the drive market, and that would be bad.
I would never choose a Samsung HDD over another brand if I had a choice. Give me HGST or WD any time. Samsung may be the market leaders in SSD but SSDs are still not as durable as a good old fashioned HDD.
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