Storage is booming! Kioxia’s production capacity for this year is already completely sold out.
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The strong demand driven by the artificial intelligence boom is reshaping the global storage market landscape, marking the end of the era of cheap solid-state drives (SSDs). According to media reports on January 22, Japanese storage chip giant Kioxia has confirmed that, driven by "intense" AI demand, the company's production capacity for this year has been completely sold out, and the tight supply situation is expected to continue until 2027.
According to Tom's Hardware citing South Korean media Digital Daily, Shunsuke Nakato, Managing Director of Kioxia's storage business unit, stated clearly at a conference in Seoul that the days when a 1TB SSD sold for around 7,000 yen (about 45 USD) are gone for good. Since the end of 2023 to the beginning of 2024, it has become difficult to find 1TB SSDs priced under 50 USD on the market, and this structural change signals the end of the low-price storage cycle.
The shortage on the supply side has quickly transmitted to end-user prices, causing prices of consumer and enterprise storage products to soar across the board. Market data shows that the price of some mainstream SSD models has surged more than 130% in recent months. Even in the entry-level SATA SSD market, the starting price has jumped dramatically to around 73 USD, more than 50% higher than the low point in 2023.
Kioxia executives noted that faced with a backlog of orders, the company cannot arbitrarily accelerate delivery through physical means, forcing manufacturers to adjust their allocation strategies. This statement aligns with observations from other major industry players, highlighting the severe supply-demand imbalance facing the global NAND flash memory supply chain as AI infrastructure construction crowds out capacity.
Prices Soaring Across All Products
Market data shows that the price increase of 1TB SSDs has spanned the full spectrum of products from traditional SATA drives to the most advanced PCIe 5.0 models. For long-term investors and consumers focused on PC hardware, the "golden age" of 2023, when 1TB drives sold for under 50 dollars or even hit a bottom of 35 dollars, is now history.
According to Tom's Hardware's compiled price list, mainstream product prices experienced dramatic fluctuations between 2025 and early 2026. Among them, the Corsair MP700 Pro XT 1TB increased from $159.99 in November 2025 to $219.99 in January 2026, an increase of 38%. PCIe 4.0 and PCIe 3.0 products saw even more staggering rises: the Samsung 990 Pro 1TB jumped 83% to $199.99, and the WD SN700 1TB soared 132% to $299.99. Even the older Samsung 870 Evo 1TB was priced 51% higher than just a few months before.
Shunsuke Nakato believes this trend of rising prices will continue throughout 2026 and may even extend into 2027. This means that for users planning system builds or storage upgrades, the window for low-cost opportunities has now closed.
Trust-Based Allocation Strategy
As a NAND manufacturer, Kioxia did not choose a simple "highest bidder wins" strategy to deal with this shortage. Shunsuke Nakato revealed that the company has adopted a "gentleman's agreement" model based on trust and long-term cooperation to allocate capacity.
Shunsuke Nakato explained that it is physically impossible to arbitrarily speed up delivery or increase production just because of a backlog of orders. Therefore, Kioxia has not auctioned off scarce NAND resources to the highest bidders, nor adopted a first-come, first-served system, but instead works with long-term partners to negotiate annual supply plans and distribute accordingly. This non-traditional allocation strategy aims to maintain long-term supply chain stability, rather than maximize short-term profits.
Industry Capacity and Technological Response
Faced with ongoing supply constraints, storage manufacturers are increasing production efficiency through technological means. Shunsuke Nakato said that Kioxia's Yokkaichi plant is using AI and IoT technologies, collecting about 50TB of manufacturing data daily to maximize yield. Additionally, barring unexpected events, the Kitakami plant will soon begin full-scale production of Kioxia's 8th-generation BiCS (BiCS8) flash memory, which is expected to help ease the global NAND supply shortage to some extent.
However, the overall market situation remains severe. Other major players besides Kioxia are also sending similar signals. Phison's CEO confirmed that NAND prices have doubled, and all production for 2026 has already been sold out. In addition, media reports indicate SanDisk has raised flash memory prices by 50% in response to the surge in AI-driven demand. As the AI boom forces brands like Transcend to delay delivery of SSD and flash memory products, the seller's market characteristics in the storage industry will become increasingly apparent in the coming years.
Risk Disclaimer and Limitation of LiabilityThe market involves risk, and investment should be done with caution. This article does not constitute individual investment advice, nor does it take into account the special investment objectives, financial status, or needs of individual users. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific situation. Investments made based on this are at your own risk.
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