On April 9th, it was reported by the media that Western Digital has officially sent letters to its clients notifying them of price adjustments for NAND flash memory and hard drive products.
Western Digital stated that due to the advancement of artificial intelligence, there has been a continuous increase in demand for high-capacity hard drives from major enterprises, leading to shortages in both their mechanical hard drives (HDD) and solid-state drives (SSD).
Furthermore, the demand for flash memory products has exceeded expectations. As a result, prices for flash memory and hard drive products will continue to be adjusted this quarter, with some changes taking immediate effect.
Western Digital has admitted that it will adjust product prices more frequently in response to market changes. Additionally, the company has stated that its ability to handle non-standard orders is quite limited, requiring advance notice for any order changes.
According to TrendForce's forecast from Jibang Consulting, tight supply of high-capacity hard drive products may become the dominant theme for the entire year of 2024. Enterprise SSDs are expected to rise by another 20-25% in the second quarter, while consumer-grade SSDs and eMMC/UFS are anticipated to increase by 10-15%.
