Prices have not come down on most SSD's for close to 2 years now, at least the smaller sizes. 128GB models from Samsung, Crucial, and Intel are still holding strong near $100. Either massive collusion is going on, or SSD tech has came to a grinding halt. Either way Western Digital and Seagate are smiling ear to ear, it looks like traditional drives are going to be around forever.
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Have SSD's hit a wall?
- Thread starter alienate
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SSD prices did come down as I got a OCZ 60GB for around £30 here in the UK, think they are around £55 now.
I think this is mainly due to the memory chip prices increasing as you may have seen is the case with DDR3 ram.
Might be completley wrong here though :O but I feel SSD prices did decrease drastically until the start of Q1 2013
I think this is mainly due to the memory chip prices increasing as you may have seen is the case with DDR3 ram.
Might be completley wrong here though :O but I feel SSD prices did decrease drastically until the start of Q1 2013
leeleatherwood
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Who are you, the Unskewed Poll Results guy?
from that pic prices have stabilized since ~July of last year, so they have not dropped in a year and OP is semi-correct.
If you are talking about 64-128GB drives in particular, they have not come down proportionally as much as larger drives have. While there have been drops in the cost of NAND itself, the entry level drives still need an enclosure, PCB, controller, box etc. The economies of scale that NAND price decreases have offered hit a point of diminishing returns, as you still have fixed costs as listed here that are not going down significantly, if at all.
Problem is that there will always be "premium" products, which command a higher price, and then that you get more of a product for a given price point.
What I mean by that is that the average price of the fastest drives (the m4, Vertex 4, 840 Pro etc) will always be higher than the standard 840, and of course, you now get a 256GB for less than a 128GB cost a little while ago.
I am looking at a 250GB 840 for the Mrs, for less money than my 128GB m4 cost.
And as always, SSDs are not going to replace HDDs, they have their own market. They are still a premium PC component, like an i7 processor instead of an i3, or having 32GB RAM instead of 8GB RAM etc, it is not like people are giving them away with corn flakes packets.
What I mean by that is that the average price of the fastest drives (the m4, Vertex 4, 840 Pro etc) will always be higher than the standard 840, and of course, you now get a 256GB for less than a 128GB cost a little while ago.
I am looking at a 250GB 840 for the Mrs, for less money than my 128GB m4 cost.
And as always, SSDs are not going to replace HDDs, they have their own market. They are still a premium PC component, like an i7 processor instead of an i3, or having 32GB RAM instead of 8GB RAM etc, it is not like people are giving them away with corn flakes packets.
Abula
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My guess is all going to remain steady until sata express hits the market, giving companies more margin to compete. But I do kinda agree that mechanical heads have at least a decade or more.
Eep. You just reminded me that my oldest mechanical drive is coming up on 10 years of use (!).
I think I better retire that sucker now, before it causes tears later.
eta: I bought my first SSD on the very steep part of that decline, a little over a year ago. I paid more than average because I paid for Intel. No regrets - it's been fast and reliable, with zero problems with sleep/wake/resume under Windows 7/8 despite dire predictions by some that SSDs don't "like" sleep function (not sure where that idea came from!).
I think I better retire that sucker now, before it causes tears later.
eta: I bought my first SSD on the very steep part of that decline, a little over a year ago. I paid more than average because I paid for Intel. No regrets - it's been fast and reliable, with zero problems with sleep/wake/resume under Windows 7/8 despite dire predictions by some that SSDs don't "like" sleep function (not sure where that idea came from!).
Wow dude I had not heard of SATA express that sounds cool as hell.
The prices will drop soon. Have we hit the back to school specials yet?
And don't forget the new Samsung ssd in the apple stuff.
Did you everyone see the initial scramble from the retailers when Crucial launched their super cheap 960GB SSD? When ever I have looked for them they are sold out.
My HDD are getting old as well. If you are looking for some replacements try the 3GB WD RED NAS disks. I think I payed $150 @ Microcenter and so far they have been pretty good little backup disks.
IMHO when public awareness grows they will become more popular and drop in price.
Even casual PC users I've setup with a SSD or have used my systems are SHOCKED at the response speed of even just the internet / pages.
Looking forward to larger SSDs
Public awareness is already there, with Apple, ultrabooks etc. all sporting SSDs.
This has caused the price stabilization/increase we're seeing, because supply is closer to demand. A year and a half to a year ago there was a huge oversupply, causing the drop in prices. Since then demand has been a bit stronger, but more importantly Samsung and others have slowed production down.
As for HDDs the Thailand floods have caused the current situation but they're not causing it anymore, it's just the new reality, people are buying at current prices, so no reason to drop them.
Abula
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Can i ask where you got it for $450? Im also planning on getting one, but the lowest i seen is around $465.
I bought it from http://www.canadacomputers.com/ but the price has increased by $10 since last week.
Nenu
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Prices have definitely dropped.
Just over 2.5 years ago, I bought a Vertex 2 60GB for £120.
Earlier this year I got a Samsung 840 Pro 256GB for £180.
1.5x the cost for 4x the space.
Thats a large shift in GB/£ and a similar shift in performance.
Just over 2.5 years ago, I bought a Vertex 2 60GB for £120.
Earlier this year I got a Samsung 840 Pro 256GB for £180.
1.5x the cost for 4x the space.
Thats a large shift in GB/£ and a similar shift in performance.
Who are you, the Unskewed Poll Results guy?
Good chart, matches my experience. Prices have dropped, but the last 12 months not so much.
What drives significant flash memory price drops is higher density devices, which typically depends on process shrinks. That doesn't happen in a continuous fashion.
Focusing on 128GB drives is one of the worst cases: in order to remain "fast", several flash devices must be included to populate the controller's channels. For such a low capacity drive, that means using older, lower density chips. Those are not the chips which have a more favorable GB/$ ratio.
No, it's not "massive collusion" or flash memory coming "to a grinding halt"; it's simply a false premise based on a very narrow view of the market.