Samsung, SK hynix, and Kioxia are running their SSD production lines at full capacity, leading to delivery delays of up to a year for high-capacity models of 8TB and above. The supply crunch comes amid an AI-driven surge in data demand, straining traditional storage infrastructure in data centers worldwide.
As nearline HDDs face shortages and lead times stretch to 52 weeks, high-capacity QLC SSDs are rapidly gaining traction. Offering faster data access, lower energy use, and reduced heat output, SSDs are becoming essential for AI training and inference workloads.
To meet soaring demand, NAND makers are ramping up development of ultra-high-capacity nearline SSDs, with models up to 245TB in the pipeline. Samsung is advancing PCIe 5.0 SSDs and preparing mass production of 300-layer NAND, while SK hynix’s Solidigm unit expands AI server-focused SSD output in North America.
Traditional HDD manufacturers like Seagate and Western Digital are also pivoting toward SSDs as HDD demand declines.
This convergence of tight supply, AI-driven workloads, and next-gen innovation is reshaping the global storage landscape, placing high-capacity SSDs at the heart of modern data center growth.
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