April 8th, In the wake of continuous advancements in AI technology, the demand for storage solutions within enterprises is witnessing an unprecedented surge. TrendForce projects a 20%-25% increase in contract prices for enterprise-grade SSDs in the second quarter, with consumer-grade SSDs seeing a rise of approximately 10-15%.
According to a report by Citigroup analyst Peter Lee, SSDs are poised to replace HDDs in AI applications. Lee points out that SSDs are "more suitable for AI training applications," boasting speeds up to 40 times faster than HDDs.
"HDDs are too slow and inadequate for the demands of AI," Lee stated, highlighting a shift among top-tier tech firms in the U.S. towards enterprise-grade SSDs for their data centers.
Recent reports indicate that major tech players like Tesla are expanding their AI server infrastructure, while leading server companies such as Dell and HP are scrambling to procure SSDs.
"Server companies are ramping up SSD orders to expand storage capacity, leading to a significant surge in demand, with some products experiencing shortages," remarked industry insiders.
Moreover, there has been a doubling of NAND demand for certain server OEMs recently, with ultra-high-capacity SSDs even witnessing instances of high-price bidding wars.
Initially planning for a 15% price hike on enterprise-grade SSDs in Q2, storage giant Samsung has decided to revise the increase to 20%-25% due to the "unprecedented surge" in demand exceeding expectations.
