Breaking: Samsung Alleged to Aim Ending SATA SSD Production
If RAM becoming a problem due to Micron pulling out of the consumer market via Crucial wasn't bad enough, well according to YouTuber "Moore's Law is Dead", there are multiple sources adding to the claim that Samsung will aim to finish out the rest of their current obligations via contracts, and then stop production of SATA SSDs - which will likely cause spikes in prices.
Now, it's important to note that there's apparently plans to continue with NvME format drives eventually post SATA SSD end of production.
If you want the full details, I would recommend watching the video from the source directly - as they deserve the watch-time:
What Does this Mean For the Market?
In short? Price Hikes...
Let's be real: If you're in the market for SSD drives, Samsung has been a solid choice for quality and reliability to the point where they're one of the go-to choices for the market of SSDs in general - including SATA SSDs. So what happens when we have a massive player in the market dip? A vacuum occurs. When a vacuum occurs, prices increase. When prices increase, we have to wait and hope for stabilization post market adaption.
In short - once Samsung leaves the market, prices will rise until the market corrects itself, assuming we don't have consumers flipping out and buying more at the higher prices (which is honestly likely to happen). Not even considering the direct panic response... because... I'll be honest... I'm going to plan to grab a few extra drives if I can help it...
It's important to be prepared, but also... markets have gone through these kinds of movements before. We're just now going through a new generational era of it. And speaking on generational shifts - you can probably guess what's likely the cause for this... yup...
What the Cause?
You already know what it is... guess...
The likely cause of this is, of course, AI. Companies are all trying to shove AI into all of their products and that means the necessary hardware is needed to run that AI processing. The reason Micron pulled out of consumer RAM is to prioritize deals with AI companies. Well, AI related devices are going to need the hardware to quickly store and retrieve data - so Samsung is likely aiming to prioritize their dealing with AI and AI adjacent companies.
Money makes the world go round, and money drives decisions. If there's anything I can leave you with it's this - consumers drive the market. If we do not buy, then companies do not make money.
Here's hoping the next few years aren't a total crap show...
- Zane Blalock
