"AI-Driven SSD Prices Soar Another 50% in Q2... NAND Joins HBM in Steep Surge"
by Park Joonyi
by Kim Jinyeong
Published 27 Apr.2026 10:44(KST)
Nearly 50% Surge for Two Consecutive Quarters
Data Center Demand Concentrated on High-Performance Products
From DRAM to NAND, Upward Pressure Across Memory Market
Driven by the expanding demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, the price of solid-state drives (SSD) has recently continued its steep upward trend, rising by around 50%. As the benefits of building out AI infrastructure extend beyond high bandwidth memory (HBM) to include NAND flash, upward pricing pressure is spreading across the market.
According to market research firm TrendForce on April 27, contract prices for enterprise SSDs in the second quarter of this year are projected to increase by 48% to 53% compared to the previous quarter. This follows a 53% to 58% surge in the first quarter, marking two consecutive quarters of sharp increases of around 50%.
SSDs are storage devices based on NAND and serve as core infrastructure for processing and storing large-scale data in AI servers. Particularly as AI moves from a phase focused on training large models to the inference stage, demand for SSDs capable of handling large volumes of data is rapidly increasing.
The upward trend in enterprise SSD prices began in earnest last year. In 2025, quarterly increases of 25% to 40% are expected to continue, indicating that the NAND market has already entered an upward cycle. As demand concentrates on high-capacity and high-performance products for data centers, limited production capacity is increasingly allocated to high value-added products, solidifying this market structure.
Accordingly, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which lead the global enterprise SSD market, are expanding their NAND flash production capacity. According to industry sources, Samsung Electronics is preparing to invest in converting its Xi'an Plant 1 in China to 236-layer eighth-generation NAND (V8), and is also expected to build a tenth-generation NAND line at its Pyeongtaek Campus Plant 5 (P5). SK hynix is also reportedly planning a new investment in its Dalian Plant 2 in China in the second half of the year, aiming to produce 50,000 wafers per month of eighth-generation NAND.
The expansion of AI server demand is driving up prices, particularly in memory semiconductors. According to market research firm Omdia, global semiconductor market revenue (on a shipment basis) is expected to reach approximately USD 1.4 trillion (about KRW 2,076 trillion) this year, representing 62.7% growth year-on-year.
Kim Joungho, Vice Chairman of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, stated, "The main driver of SSD demand growth is data centers, and increased investment by hyperscalers is raising memory prices overall. While the rise in DRAM prices was notable until early last year, recently, the upward trend in NAND prices has become even steeper."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.