Not only is AI taking our jobs, now it's also making memory cards unaffordable
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You might have heard about solid state memory becoming a prized commodity, and its makers cashing in on the dramatically increased demand for flash memory. SanDisk in particular has been making headlines for its soaring stock price. But what's good news for shareholders doesn't leave the average photographer much cause for celebration. That increased demand for memory is pushing prices of memory cards and SSDs sky high, and the price jump is now clear to see.

We've selected some of the best-selling SD and microSD cards at Amazon.com, and tracked their prices over the last few months: the increase is staggering. For instance, the mid-range SanDisk Extreme 128GB microSDXC card was consistently selling for around $17 in October last year, but since November its price has risen considerably, and now you'll need to part with almost $40 to get your hands on one. It's a similar story with Samsung's EVO Select 512GB microSD card - around $35 late last year, but now it's closing in on $70. Fancy a full-size SanDisk Extreme Pro 128GB SD card? $30 at the start of this year; now around $50.

What’s Going On?


The global flash memory market is experiencing what Silicon Motion CEO Wallace C. Kou calls something the industry has “never [seen] before.” In a recent earnings call, he stated plainly: “HDD, DRAM, HBM, NAND – all in severe shortage in 2026. Most of our capacity [is] sold out.”

Let that sink in. The companies that make our memory cards have already sold their entire 2026 production capacity.

And the buyers aren’t photographers – they’re AI data centers with bottomless budgets.

Here’s what we’re seeing right now:

• NAND flash prices have doubled in the past six months. A 1TB TLC chip that cost $4.80 in July 2025 now costs $10.70.
• SanDisk raised their contract prices by 50% in November alone – their third major increase this year.
• High-capacity microSD cards (512GB and up) are already experiencing regular stockouts in Japan.
• Weekly price increases of 14-25% have become routine. Historically, 5-10% was considered severe.

One bulk memory distributor put it bluntly: “This rapid escalation makes it extremely difficult for anyone who buys memory in bulk to maintain predictable margins.” Why AI Is Eating Our Storage


The culprit is straightforward: artificial intelligence requires staggering amounts of storage. AI data centers need fast, reliable memory not just for training models, but for storing the massive outputs those models generate – text, images, video, audio – plus the enormous datasets required for retrieval systems.

Here’s the ripple effect that’s hitting photographers:

Enterprise SSDs are in extreme demand. Cloud providers are shifting from traditional hard drives to SSDs because AI workloads need faster data retrieval. This is consuming NAND flash at huge rates.

Manufacturers are prioritizing AI customers. When you can sell your entire production run to enterprise buyers at large premium margins, why bother with consumer SD cards?

Phison’s CEO confirmed they’re “deliberately prioritizing server markets over retail consumers due to better margins.”

New production capacity won’t arrive until late 2027. Even if manufacturers wanted to ramp up, building new fabrication facilities takes years.

We’re looking at a structural shortage and not a temporary blip.
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price increases for Power Systems and Storage products have indeed come to pass. We were poo-pooing the idea that IBM would have a 25 percent across-the-board price increase, saying this would be unprecedented and unjustified. But the price increases that go into effect in three weeks (just after the first financial quarter of 2026 ends) are jaw dropping even if they are mainly for main memory and flash drives.

We would love to show you the link to the announcement letter, but as far as we know there is no customer announcement letter (the kind that we can see) for this price increase and only a business partner announcement letter (which we cannot see except through the kindness of strangers). We have, however, confirmed the announcement with two business partners, who supplied us with the PDF documents and XLS spreadsheets with the same data in them (but oddly enough, formatted differently, possibly because they came through two different master resellers).

The Price Action for Power & Storage announcement was dated March 2, and the effective date is April 1. All price increases are in effect worldwide. The letter to business partners states: “Today, IBM announces changes in list prices worldwide on select products. The new prices are effective April 1, 2026. Terms and conditions of existing contracts will determine the applicability and specific effect of the price change. For additional information please contact your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner.”


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