Memory prices to remain stubbornly high for years, says industry expert
The founder and boss of Angelbird isn't optimistic that the global memory shortage will end any time soon
In 2026, a rising trend of high prices for solid state storage and memory cards has been observed, affecting everything from portable SSDs to CFexpress cards. This surge in prices is primarily due to a global shortage of NAND flash memory, which has also impacted the broader electronics industry, leading to increased costs for games consoles and smartphones. Despite the concerns, experts believe that memory prices may not significantly decrease in the near future.
Roman Rabitsch, the founder of Angelbird, shared his insights in an interview with Cine D. He explained that during the COVID-19 pandemic, NAND flash and DRAM production was high, but demand was relatively low, which helped maintain low prices. However, with the emergence of AI technology and its demand for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) in data centers, memory manufacturers have shifted their focus towards producing this lucrative commodity.
Consequently, this has led to reduced supply of NAND flash used in camera memory cards and SSDs, resulting in a relentless increase in memory card prices throughout 2026.
As the output of memory fabrication plants is already allocated for years, with capacity sold out until 2029-2030, it is likely that the availability and pricing of memory will remain fairly stable for the next 2-3 years. Rabitsch suggests that while prices may not continue to skyrocket, a potential price drop in late 2027 could only be around 2-5%. Thus, it appears that significant price reductions are unlikely to occur for several years.
Written by urgent.news from Digital Camera World's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
