Flash memory prices could drop by up to 10% due to excess stock and poor SSD sales.

Anyone who has kept a close watch on SSD prices knows that they have always followed a cycle of going up, up, up, then down, down, before climbing back to the top. We're currently at the peak of this pattern, but due to an excess in production and lower than expected demand, the price rollercoaster is expected to start a decline of up to 15%.

According to a recent report by Trendforce - a market research firm that specializes in all things electronic - this is the case. The report notes that, while the demand for enterprise-level SSDs is as high as ever due to the explosion of AI computation, consumers are not interested in buying a lot of shiny new SSDs.

Trendforce predicts that SSD contract price will drop between 5 and 10 percent over the next three month. We search every week through all major retailers to find the best prices for the best gaming SSDs. I have said that given the volatility of some models, any reduction would be welcomed.

Trendforce also notes, however, that consumer-grade SSDs have seen their prices increase by 8 to 10 percent in the last three months. This reduction will only negate this increase. We probably won't be seeing cheaper SSDs on the shelves anytime soon.

Trendforce expects a general decline in contract pricing for all NAND Flash products, except for server-grade items. Even then, the price will only rise by a few percentage points. The excess of flash chips combined with the lower demand for wafers should bring down wafer prices by up to 15%.

This is not a big drop, but it does show that NAND flash products will be gradually dropping in price. This will take between six and nine month to fully manifest, and flash manufacturers like Micron and Samsung will then reduce production to further reduce their wafer inventory.

In 2025, new PCIe 5.0 SSDs are expected to be available. They will run cooler than the current models which tend to heat up when under load. If all of this happens, the demand will increase, but prices will rise due to the reduced stock.

The never-ending cycle of SSD price will continue for another 12-to-24 months, as it always has. I suppose we should thank God that solid state storage isn't as expensive as motherboards and graphics cards, which are all very expensive these days. It's not necessary to have a Gen5 SSD for a gaming PC to enjoy fast loading times. Any of the best SSDs available today will do.