Vanishing from Shelves: Why 1 TB microSD Cards and High-Capacity HDDs Have Become a Luxury in Japan

There is currently a global memory shortage driven by the boom of artificial intelligence. But in Japan specifically, a new problem has appeared — the disappearance of high-capacity microSD cards from retail. microSD cards with capacities of 512 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB have become extremely popular as an alternative to HDDs and SSDs, and are rapidly vanishing from store shelves.

Increased Demand for Hard Drives (HDD)

The situation with classic high-capacity HDDs is even worse. They are also disappearing from Japanese stores, and prices for the remaining units are significantly inflated.

According to retailers, high-performance models are being actively purchased for AI systems and data centers, so new batches rarely reach the retail market. Despite rising prices, the drives sell out instantly.

At the moment, the situation with solid-state drives (SSD) is slightly better compared to HDDs.

Explosive Rise in RAM Prices

The most dramatic changes are happening in the RAM market. DDR5 prices are rising explosively.

For example, the Corsair Vengeance 64 GB 5600 MT/s kit, which cost around $260 at the beginning of November, is now selling for about $460 — nearly double the price in such a short period of time.

Retailers report that wholesale prices for new memory batches are constantly increasing “by tens of thousands of yen,” and store shelves remain half empty. Market representatives are confident that the AI boom is the sole cause of this crisis, and there are no signs of quick stabilization.