Storage Shortage Continues and Latest Pricing
If you are looking to buy more storage of any type, be warned: the shortages created by AI are continuing. Costs have nearly doubled for HDD and SSD drives, along with the CF cards we use in our cameras. AI is literally buying up the entire capacity of chip manufacturing. Even Apple is having long wait times on their Mac Mini and Mac Studio products as those are being bought up by AI, as well.
If you need more storage or a new computer, you are not going to wait this out. Most predictions say we are in for at least two years of this, but it could be even longer. Seagate is reporting that they are finalizing long-term contracts for 2027 and are in planning discussions for 2028 and beyond. Western Digital has agreements into 2028 and 2029. The largest customers are now making multi-year contracts to secure the storage they need. This may actually help us, as companies will know how much they need to build and can decide if expanding production is worthwhile.
So, what should you buy? Storage is still available, with an average price of $30 to $32 a TB. That puts a 8TB drive from Seagate at $242, a 12TB WD for $316 and a 16TB for $519.
Larger drives have skyrocketed since I last wrote about them. In February, I bought a 20TB Seagate at $318, which seemed expensive, but that drive now goes for $609. Yikes. But you need to back up your photos, and that is still less than food, gas and lodging for a couple day photo trip. Look at the “per TB price” of any drive you are considering to make sure it is competitively priced to other sizes.
SSD drives aren’t fairing much better. I found a SANDISK 4TB Extreme Portable at $449 which seems like a deal compared to the Samsung T7 4TB for $959.
I’ve seen similar things with CF flash cards. 256 GB San Disk cards are priced at $67 to $92. A year ago it felt like they were giving these away, but not any more.
Looking at prices, it has gotten worse since I first started writing on this topic. It has always paid to be smart about backup and storage, but now it is essential. A good backup plan will help you buy only what you need, and that could save you a lot.