According to recent reports from analysts at Nomura Securities, SanDisk is preparing to double the price of its high-capacity 3D NAND memory modules used in enterprise-grade SSDs during the first quarter of 2026.
This decision is not an isolated move but a direct response to the overwhelming demand for storage driven by artificial intelligence. Major cloud service providers are rapidly expanding their data centers to train and run increasingly complex language models. These infrastructures require not only high speed but also massive storage capacity — something only premium SSDs can provide.
Rising Prices and Market Pressure
The projected increase could exceed 100% quarter-over-quarter by March. This positions SanDisk aggressively in the market, taking advantage of a situation where supply simply cannot keep up with demand. In fact, other major players in the industry, such as Samsung and SK hynix, are also planning price hikes of up to 70% for their server-grade memory products.
Industry reports indicate that NAND production capacity for the entire year of 2026 is already nearly sold out or reserved. This has created a domino effect where even companies that traditionally relied on mechanical hard drives (HDDs) are now switching to SSDs to avoid waiting times that could stretch up to two years.
Although the price increase mainly targets the enterprise sector, its ripple effects will inevitably reach consumers. With production lines prioritizing high-margin products for data centers, consumer PC components may face limited availability or significant price increases.
How this situation evolves remains to be seen, but one thing is clear — SSD prices are on the rise throughout 2026.
