Based on recent market analysis by TrendForce, it appears that SSD prices could continue to drop later this year due to oversupply. It seems like the production volume Kioxia and WDC are growing as the year progresses. However, the increasing sentiment is that the destocking process in the Chinese market will not match projections, creating an overstock situation.
Experts suggest a price decrease around 3-8% in late summer and fall of this year for consumer SSDs. For enterprise and 3D NAND SSDs, that figure could reach as high as 10%. If you are interested in these deals, make sure to keep an eye on prices around that time.
Will price drops make PCI 4.0 SSDs worth it?
Peppy SSDs based on the high-bandwidth PCIe 4.0 spec used to be quite expensive. In the past few years, high-end PC building also became pricey. As we’ve already seen with graphics cards though, price gouging for many components has finally fallen off.
Back in early 2021, it was common to see PCIe 4.0 SSDs like the WD Black SN850 selling for the MSRP of $230 USD per terabyte. By Q4, prices dropped to around $170 USD, depending on the retailer. Today, you are able to get one for around $138 USD on Amazon. This would make additional upcoming price cuts metaphorical icing on the cake.
Any SSD will be a big upgrade to a spinning HDD, but PCIe 4.0 drives will define AAA game standards in years to come.
Pricing for PCIe 4.0 SSDs decreased significantly over the past year. This is attributable to factors like increasing manufacturing volume, lower defect rates, recouped R&D costs, and increased adoption rates/sales. This is great news for those with motherboards that support the spec, because users can finally equip their systems with blazing fast storage without breaking the bank.
PCIe 4.0 drives will also become increasingly important in future AAA titles once developers begin to create games exclusively for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, which also happen to support the PCIe 4.0 spec. Consoles tend to define the minimum specs for games, so affordability of fast SSDs will be key to advancing game design and doing new things in games with all the bandwidth that the PCIe 4.0 spec allows.
It’s common knowledge that load times improve significantly with SSDs, but new techniques like asset streaming and Microsoft’s DirectStorage will also become increasingly prominent. With that said, spending a few extra bucks on the best SSDs now will be worthwhile over the long term.
