SSDs can provide a great upgrade to a PC which is still wholly reliant upon HDD technology for its fixed storage. Now thanks to dropping prices of a major component, to which SSD pricing is tied, SSD pricing is set to decline further. You might have already noticed SSD pricing declining and larger capacities getting more affordable. According to a major SSD manufacturer boss, via DigiTimes, prices will continue to fall by a further 20 to 30 percent in 2014.
Peter Shu, chairman of memory module maker Transcend, told DigiTimes that he sees strong growth for SSDs during 2014 off the back of falling NAND prices. Following the SSD price falls of approximately 30 per cent during 2013 Shu expects another 20 to 30 per cent drop this year.
Transcend's own production of SSD drives has been ramped up to 100,000 units per month as market demand is there. We are told that "industrial and consumer models each account for 50 per cent of total shipments," for Transcend. The company sees its products growing in popularity as smaller scale operators are squeezed from the market.
Shu also told DigiTimes that the reason behind the price drops is oversupply of NAND. Hopefully the manufacturers won't artificially restrict NAND supply to help their selling prices via holding stock or cutting production. A great impetus to keep the SSD market rolling forward and NAND chip demand increase however is if/when 256GB SSDs hit the magic US$100 price point. Shu predicts at that price the demand will "surge" with customers keen to pick up such components.
