Record-breaking price drop on SSDs

The prices of SSD drives are in continuous decline. The prices have dropped 15 to 30 percent and continue to decrease, according to tomshardware.com.

Drives with 1, 2, and 4 TBs storage space are now around 25% cheaper, with the average price for GB around 6 cents. High-performance SSDs (like those based on the high-speed PCIe 4.0 interface) are a bit more expensive, while SATA and PCIe 3.0 drives are even cheaper (around 4 cents for a GB). This makes a terabyte on SSD almost as cheap as a terabyte on HDD, which is an exceptional case in history.

This is happening against the background of general price decrease for electronics, which affects smartphones, PCs, and other electronic devices based on NAND flash memory, which is also used in SSD drives.

According to TrendFOrce, there was a 15% decline in prices for NAND flash memory early in 2023, followed by a further decline of around 8 to 13%, with SSD-sales revenues decline of around 47,3%.

The consumer segment is also facing challenges, and it will likely continue to shrink. Recent reports indicate that Taiwan suppliers of Apple, Hon Hai Precision Industry (Foxconn brand for device assembly), and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (chip maker) saw a decline in revenues in May. According to Bloomberg, the combined revenue of these companies in May was NT$944.10 billion ($30.5 billion), representing a year-on-year decrease of 7.8% and a 2.1% decrease compared to April. June's data is expected to show even worse results.

This was, 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs is available for an average price of $50-60, while 2TB drives can be found for less than $100. More potent models like the Samsung 990 Pro and WD Black SN850X cost around $85 and $134 for 1TB and 2TB capacities.

Depending on the interface type and manufacturer, 4TB SSDs are available at prices ranging from $154 to $299.