Key Takeaways
1. Samsung is planning to completely exit the SATA SSD market, impacting consumer prices significantly.
2. SATA SSDs still represent a large portion of retail sales, especially in budget segments, making their absence a concern for price stability.
3. The removal of Samsung’s SATA SSDs could lead to supply shortages, raising prices for both SATA and NVMe drives.
4. Unlike brand reshuffles, Samsung’s exit means a genuine decrease in supply, potentially causing panic buying among consumers and builders.
5. Future pricing trends may improve by 2027, but the availability of low-cost SATA SSDs from Samsung is likely over.
Samsung is said to be getting ready to shut down its SATA SSD production. A well-known hardware leaker has stated that this decision might have a bigger impact on consumer prices than Micron’s choice to stop its Crucial-branded consumer RAM. This information comes from Tom, who runs the Moore’s Law Is Dead YouTube channel. He claims that various sources in distribution and retail have confirmed Samsung’s long-term exit from the SATA SSD market. This news follows a report stating that Samsung has increased DDR5 memory prices by as much as 60%.
Impact on Retail Sales
Even though interest in SATA SSDs is decreasing among enthusiasts, they still play a significant role in retail sales. They make up a large portion of the best-selling SSDs on major sites like Amazon, especially in budget and upgrade categories. Tom points out that losing a major manufacturer like Samsung could restrict supply and lead to higher SSD prices across the board, at least in the near to medium term.
Supply Concerns
Tom emphasizes that the main concern isn’t whether SATA SSDs are outdated, but how much they still contribute to the market. He mentions that around 20% of Amazon’s top SSD bestsellers are still SATA-based, with Samsung drives being a significant part of this. If that quantity is removed from the market, even gradually, it lowers the overall availability of SSDs, which raises prices for both SATA and NVMe drives.
This aligns with a recent forecast from memory expert Dave Eggleston, who told Tom during a podcast, while addressing a question from the audience, that NAND SSDs might be the next PC components to see price hikes.
A Different Scenario
Tom also notes that Samsung’s decision is quite different from a brand reshuffle. Sources indicate that Samsung intends to completely stop SATA SSD production after completing current contracts, instead of just supplying the same NAND under different consumer brands. This results in a real supply decrease, not merely a change in branding. Moreover, the potential difficulty in sourcing SATA could lead to panic buying among system builders and companies that still depend on this interface, which Tom believes would further drive up short-term prices.
In contrast, he compares Samsung’s situation with Micron’s choice to reduce the Crucial consumer RAM brand, which he sees as mostly symbolic regarding its market impact. Micron, similar to Samsung and SK Hynix, already provides memory chips directly to other brands like G.Skill and ADATA. Therefore, the supply remains mostly unchanged even without the Crucial-branded kits.
Future Price Trends
Looking into the future, Tom mentions that industry forecasts indicate pricing pressure could decrease once manufacturers shift back towards consumer hardware, likely by 2027. This shift would be fueled by local AI workloads and next-gen consoles needing fast SSDs and ample RAM. However, he warns that while SSD prices might eventually lower, the days of inexpensive SATA SSDs are probably over, especially from Samsung.
Moore’s Law Is Dead
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