SSDs will likely become much more expensive, as Samsung is reportedly doubling the price of its NAND chips.

The development of AI data centers has been impacting DRAM and SSD prices, making personal computers more expensive, and now SSDs seem poised for even further price increases.

SSD prices have been rising over the past few months, primarily due to supply pressures from AI data centers. However, we may not see the peak yet, as Samsung is reported to have increased the price of its NAND SSD chips by up to 100% in the first quarter of this year.

This doubling of prices is unlikely to have an immediate impact on retail SSDs, but it could make SSDs even more expensive in the coming months. Not only are the best SSD manufacturers likely to raise their product prices to offset the increased cost of NAND chips from Samsung and other suppliers, but AI data centers are also likely to continue putting pressure on overall supply, thereby driving up component costs for PC gamers.

Information about this sharp price increase comes from the South Korean technology news site ETnews. The site stated that the price hike is due to "a surge in demand for NAND-based storage devices driven by the growing popularity of artificial intelligence." It also added that "Samsung Electronics signed supply contracts with major customers late last year and began implementing the price increase in January," suggesting the price hike had been planned for some time.

ETnews also reported that SK Hynix and SanDisk are expected to raise product prices (SanDisk by 100%), meaning that the third, second, and fifth largest NAND memory chip manufacturers may all be following this trend. NAND chips store data on SSDs, but are also used as internal memory in mobile phones and many other devices.

Besides demand from AI customers, the website points out that another factor putting pressure on prices is the lack of supply growth, with 'no large-scale expansion of NAND flash memory capacity in the past year'. This is partly due to slower-than-expected efforts to transition manufacturing to more advanced processes.

In short, it seems that SSD prices are in a really tough position. So, even though prices are already high, any good deal you find is probably worth buying now, as prices are unlikely to drop for many months to come.