- The average price of HDDs has grown by 46% just in the last 4 months, as per research.
- This price change is more of a supply chain issue than any shortages for now.
- The average price of SSDs also saw an increase of 76% in the same time period.
The PC market has been troubled with price increases in every sector, thanks to the ongoing memory shortages. SSDs are one of the primary victims of these price hikes due to the ongoing NAND famine, fueled by the AI boom.
As it turns out, HDDs are now also being affected by this crisis through a far-reaching ripple effect. New research shows that the average price of mechanical hard drives has shot up by a whopping 46%.
Why it matters: HDDs have become more popular in the last few months, so the ripple effects of the memory apocalypse are also impacting their pricing. The current trajectory suggests the most premium HDDs will get more expensive over time.
The analysis from ComputerBase takes into account the 12 most popular hard drives on the PC market. They have seen a 46% surge in price on average during the last four months based on their EUR listings.
Some models, like the Toshiba Cloud-Scale Capacity MG10F AFA 22 TB, have gone up by 66%. The least impacted model was the 16 TB Seagate IronWolf Pro NAS HDD, which experienced a 23% price increase over the last four months.
To clarify, HDDs use nearly no silicon for storage purposes. The exorbitant price increase is primarily a supply chain issue, mostly driven by the format’s recent surge in popularity. The high demand will likely keep the price of HDDs inflated for the foreseeable future.
The analysis also provides a deeper insight into SSD price hikes, with the cost of high-capacity optical drives increasing by a whopping 74.12% on average over the same four-month period.
Some high-end SSD variants even cost twice as much as before, with costs showing no signs of stabilizing this year as the crisis continues evolving out of control.
Therefore, building a PC is harder than ever due to this predicament, and PC selling prices are expected to rise by 8% to 9% this year.
Do you think the price of HDDs will continue to get worse in the future as the storage shortage becomes a bigger problem over time? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or join the discussion on the Tech4Gamers forum.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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