Supply shortages have affected quite a few industries over the past few years, and the camera and computer industries are still not immune. A recent discovery of contaminated material at two major manufacturing plants has resulted in significant impacts on flash memory market, which analysts predict will likely lead to price increases.
The incident occurred recently at two factories Western Digital and Kioxia, where contaminated material was discovered, resulting in the loss of 3D NAND material about 16 exabytes (16 million terabytes). For reference, this equates to about 8% of total SSD capacity shipped in 2021. As WD and Kioxia are some of the largest flash memory manufacturers, analysts expect an impact. Worth noting the price of SSDs and other flash memory devices.
Based on Western Digital losing 6.5 exabytes out of 16 exabytes, analysts forecast flash memory prices to grow between 5 and 10 percent in the second quarter of this year, with that number likely to rise by more than a quarter. when Kioxia analyzed the impact on their yields. . In parallel with the shortage, analysts expect prices to also increase due to the ongoing supply shortage. Thankfully, it appears that only 3D NAND materials are affected, with the 2D NAND supply expected to be unaffected. However, if you need more storage, it might be time to get it.
