Memory card and flash drive pricing surges 120%, with some models spiking 260%

[Shawn Knight]

Editor's take: We're living in unprecedented times when it comes to memory-infused electronics. Historically, consumer goods like game consoles and laptops become cheaper over time, thanks in part to steadily improving manufacturing processes. However, the ongoing global memory shortage has flipped everything on its head. It feels as though we're living in a parallel universe where up is down, left is right, and everything is completely backwards.

Take flash-based memory cards, for example. Building on data from a PCWorld investigation, Tom's Hardware recently found that memory card and USB drive prices have increased by an average of 123% compared to last year. And that's just the median – in one extreme example, a 256GB Lexar Blue microSDXC UHS-I card shot up a whopping 261% percent year over year.

The publication didn't identify a single instance in which pricing stayed the same or decreased for a specific product; in each and every instance, a price hike compared to last year was noted.

As Tom's highlights, memory cards and USB drives still use NAND chips made from wafers manufactured on the same production lines as chips for SSDs – the difference in what goes where often comes down to binning and quality tiers. If AI data center customers are willing to pay a premium for higher-quality NAND, manufacturers are likely obliging and optimizing production lines accordingly. This could result in lower-bin NAND chips for memory cards and USB drives, limiting their buying options.

The situation has forced some memory card brands to focus more of their efforts on premium products. Earlier this month, SanDisk rolled out a new 2TB SD card priced at an eye-watering $2,000 – and that's after a $500 discount.

Fortunately, the current situation is expected to pass and pricing will eventually normalize. The question on everyone's mind is, of course, when will that happen? Some believe the situation could extend well into 2027, while others point to recent DDR5 price drops as evidence that the correction is already underway. Personally, I'd hold off on buying any memory-related products for a while longer unless they were absolutely mission critical.

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Memory card and flash drive pricing surges 120%, with some models spiking 260%

 

[Theinsanegamer]

The flash memory used in these products are typically rejects that dont meet the QA for more expensive products. So if they are making as much as possible....where is all that bad NAND ending up? Use your imagination.

 

[Win7user]

Any kind of prices like this, should be met with NO SALE! Bunch of greedy pricks...

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Any kind of prices like this, should be met with NO SALE! Bunch of greedy pricks...

They dont make the NAND.

so should they intentionally lose money? how do you propose they stay in business?

 

[texasrattler]

Walmart has increased memory card prices a few times. Even recently. So, even if prices do come down, I doubt it will be anytime soon though, stores wont see the change right away.

 

[p51d007]

I'm glad I upgraded my laptop & home PC three years ago, and the phone almost two years ago.
Unless something happens to them, I'm in no need of pretty much anything that need storage.
Can't wait for the AI/data center nonsense to GO AWAY. That should flood the market with a lot
of storage.
I know one city, south of St Louis where a city council approved a company building a data center
over the objections of the citizens of the city. (population under 15,000). This past April election, the citizens TOSSED OUT half of the city council.

 

[NumberNine]

I reported this weeks ago.

 

[Starfals]

Buying anything tech is just over now. We are back to 1995. When I had nothing and I had no plans to buy anything cus everything was insanely overpriced here. The fun and games future is officially gone.

The world of the free too. No more good times, inflation and wars is the new future. I guess its good that I bought a few 1TB flsh drives for like peanuts. I saw a few of them going up by 200% this week... wow. God knows I wouldnt have bought them at the current new prices. The tech world lost me. Video games world is about to lose me too, with the rumors of 90-100 bucks games too. Paychecks are the same pretty much for everyone I know. 1-5% increase doesn't cover 50-300% increases lol.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

I’m surprised this didn’t happen sooner.

AI datacenters don’t use low end flash but shortages run down hill.

EX: There’s likely discount Chinese phones switching to SD level flash because they can’t get the mid grade flash they usually use.

 

[Endymio]

AI datacenters don’t use low end flash but shortages run down hill.

Exactly. In economics, this is called the 'substitution effect'. High-end purchasers move to middle-tier, and middle-tier purchasers buy the low end.

The world of the free too. No more good times, inflation and wars is the new future. I guess its good that I bought a few 1TB flsh drives for like peanuts. I saw a few of them going up by 200% this week...

Here in the US, core inflation is 2.6%, down from 9% in mid-2022. As for these chip price hikes, they're a short-term phenomenon. Shortages drove egg prices in Jan 2025 to $6/dozen ... today they're less than 1/3 that. In little over a year, you'll see chip prices tumbling too.

 

[The Talking Tech]

Whoever spends money on anything that uses memory from PCs, gaming consoles, to cell phones are morons fueling greedy companies. Stick to what you have and give it at least 3 to 4 more years, companies will eventually understand they have to drop prices on everything once they see no sales growth.

 

[Anton Longshot]

I look forward to selling my 8 and 16 GB SD cards sometime and live in luxury off the proceeds.
Perhaps I'll even part with the 8GB DDR3 stick that sits in an unused non-functional PC right now.
Good times!
I'll just suck up the fact that I won't be able to make a new PC for a couple of years but the old one's good enough if I'm non-nerd honest.

 

[toooooot]

Do you guys remember when only GPUs were overpriced? ...

 

[Megalomaniac]

I should have listened to myself back during Black Friday. I bought a new Alienware Area 51 fully loaded with the 4TB HDD and then bought another 4TB HDD to add in for just my games. I should have bought a second one. I should have bought a 4TB portable back then too. I'll just have to wait till prices cool.

 

[Win7user]

They dont make the NAND.

so should they intentionally lose money? how do you propose they stay in business?

Lose money? These big companies, are millions and millions in the black! Obviously, people like you who fork over the cash, keep them rich, no questions asked! Ah, better your money, than mine.

 

[Win7user]

You, won't be selling any of them to me.

 

[yannus]

All this is just an inflation technique, the same they did with cars. There's no scarcity, only the push to "you'll own nothing and you'll be happy" corporate communism.