SSD And RAM Prices To Drop Because There's Too Much Supply

It seems like things are looking up for the PC market, with shipment numbers finally showing a rise last quarter. That has mostly been thanks to the rise in demand for desktops, laptops, and even tablets as the world adjusts to remote work and school setups. Ironically, those same global conditions are causing manufacturers NAND and DRAM products like RAM and SSDs some trouble as there is now an oversupply of these memory components and not much demand for them.

You'd think that with the higher demand for computers and mobile devices, there would be a higher demand for the memory chips you put inside. That may have been true when computer makers and data storage makers were scrambling to meet the surge in demand earlier this year but most have now kept up with those. In fact, some market analysts foresee that the PC market will again plateau or even decline in the following quarters.

According to reports, manufacturers like Micro and Western Digital have also started slowing down their pipelines to avoid overproducing. Data centers have also stockpiled supplies earlier this year in an overabundance of caution, especially after plants closed in China due to the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Unfortunately, flash memory makers were the last ones to be able to adjust, leading to an oversupply of memory products that will have to be sold really fast, really soon.

That only means one thing: a sudden price nosedive. Some analysts predict that prices for these components could drop by as much as 15% in the coming months. That could mean even steeper and sweeter discounts come the holidays, at least for consumers.

Of course, the companies making these pieces are the ones taking the brunt of the losses, which is especially painful given the global economic situation. This oversupply and weak demand is expected to carry over to the last quarter of the year and may even last until early 2021.