Samsung Electronics Launches New SD Card After 5 Years, Why? (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyewon] Samsung Electronics has introduced new SD card products for the first time in five years, creating a subtle tension in the industry. This sudden release of high-capacity, high-performance products targeting content creators such as YouTubers comes amid a declining SD card market.

On the 14th, Samsung Electronics announced the launch of new SD card products, 'PRO Plus' and 'EVO Plus.' According to Samsung Electronics, the new products feature fast transfer speeds while enhancing stability. They are aimed at professionals and general consumers who use various devices such as DSLR cameras, mirrorless cameras, and PCs.

This aligns with the recent trend of increasing demand for high-capacity, high-performance SD cards due to the spread of one-person media and 4K, 8K videos. While Samsung Electronics has mainly supplied memory cards centered on microSD cards, it has now released SD card products that meet consumer demands with both performance and reasonable prices.

In fact, the SD card market is shrinking. Compared to solid-state drives (SSD), microSD, and embedded memory in the NAND flash market, it is a relatively less prominent market. SanDisk dominates more than 70% of the SD card market in major countries, and Samsung Electronics is not even ranked in this market.

Amid this, Samsung Electronics’ release of new products after five years appears to focus on the surge in demand for high-capacity, high-performance SD cards. As the leading NAND flash company, the industry is closely watching whether Samsung will leverage its technology and production capacity to expand its influence in the high value-added SD card market.

PRO Plus offers continuous read and write speeds of up to 100MB/s and 90MB/s, making it suitable for photographers, directors, and creators who want burst shooting and 4K video. EVO Plus also supports smooth video viewing and editing with data transfer speeds of up to 100MB/s.

The new products come in various capacities ranging from 32GB to 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB, broadening consumer choices. Both models support 4K UHD and FHD video recording.

Maeng Kyung-moo, Executive Director of Samsung Electronics Memory Business Division Brand Product Marketing Team, said, "There has been market demand for high-performance memory cards in various capacities for years," adding, "We will meet consumer expectations with SD card products that combine performance, durability, and price."

The PRO Plus and EVO Plus SD cards will be released in four models: 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB. The expected retail prices for the 128GB models are $24.99 and $19.99, respectively. The 256GB models are priced at $44.99 and $39.99.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.