Last year, SSD prices spoiled us, with a large supply making it possible to buy especially large-capacity drives very cheaply. However, these times are slowly coming to an end and this year we expect large price increases.
NAND memories are getting more expensive
Integrated circuits are very often and easily subject to the basic laws of supply and demand. This is due to the fact that there is little flexibility, setting up a semiconductor factory is a huge expense, it cannot be done overnight, you have to plan well and invest a lot. At the same time, such a factory must later earn money, so it has to work. This means that once it is built, suddenly there is an increased supply on the market and prices fall. This has been the case for the last 2 years with SSDs. After the Covid-19 pandemic and supply chain problems, many companies have expanded their production capacity. Unfortunately, demand for computers and smartphones has decreased, which has resulted in there being no takers for NAND memory.
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In the middle of last year, it was no big deal to buy a 1 TB SSD for around PLN 200. And I’m not talking about cheap SATA drives, but rather quite fast drives with an M.2 connector. Today, you have to pay around PLN 300 for such a drive, so in half a year the price has increased by 50%. Unfortunately, it looks like this is just the beginning of the increases. NAND memory prices are set to continue to rise, even by another 15-20%, which will certainly affect the prices of the drives themselves. A cheap 2 TB drive cost around PLN 450 in October 2023, today it is already PLN 600. In another half a year, it could even be PLN 800.
If you were planning to buy a new drive, it is worth speeding up the decision. The market situation is very dynamic and prices will certainly be under increasing pressure, especially since the American dollar has also been quite strong in recent days, rising in price and now costing over 4 zlotys. This will also be reflected in the price of computer components in stores.