Transcend Halts Storage Drive Shipments

The sharp rise in demand for artificial intelligence components is starting to seriously impact the market for everyday user hardware. Following the Micron's decision to exit the consumer memory market, SSD manufacturers are now facing problems. Transcend has effectively suspended shipments of its solid-state drives after it stopped receiving NAND memory chips from its main partners, Samsung and SanDisk, starting in October.

Market sources confirm that these semiconductor industry giants have now redirected their primary production capacity to fulfill orders for the AI sector. This involves supplying large data centers and cloud services that are scaling up their computing power.

All major fabs are prioritizing clients from the artificial intelligence field, which has already impacted prices for end consumers. An analysis of price tags in major retail chains shows a noticeable increase in the cost of popular SSD models, such as the Samsung 990 Pro or WD Black SN850X. Experts anticipate that price increases and reduced availability will last at least until spring of next year.

The AI technology boom unfolding in data centers is now directly affecting the wallets of ordinary consumers, making familiar PC upgrades more expensive and less predictable.

The described NAND memory supply issues are just part of the broader picture of component market overheating due to the AI boom. Similar trends are already being observed in other segments. Previously, in late November, reports emerged that NVIDIA changed its supply scheme for its graphics card manufacturing partners, no longer providing them with video memory chips bundled with GPUs. Vendors are now forced to independently source and purchase memory amid the same shortage and price hikes, which could ultimately affect graphics card costs as well.