SSD prices have not dropped much over the last 12 months

[space-time]

I checked what I paid for some 128 and 256 SSDs in Summer 2012 ($80 for the 128GB and $160 for the 256). It seems the prices have not dropped much since then. yes, they did drop a little. You can find deals with Staple coupons and price match, but the prices mentioned above were without price match or coupons, just regular sales at Amazon. Seems like they didn't drop much. Is this because demand went way up? or not enough competition?

[Black]

space-time wrote:
I checked what I paid for some 128 and 256 SSDs in Summer 2012 ($80 for the 128GB and $160 for the 256). It seems the prices have not dropped much since then. yes, they did drop a little. You can find deals with Staple coupons and price match, but the prices mentioned above were without price match or coupons, just regular sales at Amazon. Seems like they didn't drop much. Is this because demand went way up? or not enough competition?

My guess would be demand for the NAND and too slow ramp-up of production (thanks, Apple!)
Will defer to whatever Larry says about it though...

[Chakravartin]

space-time wrote:
I checked what I paid for some 128 and 256 SSDs in Summer 2012 ($80 for the 128GB and $160 for the 256). It seems the prices have not dropped much since then. yes, they did drop a little. You can find deals with Staple coupons and price match, but the prices mentioned above were without price match or coupons, just regular sales at Amazon. Seems like they didn't drop much. Is this because demand went way up? or not enough competition?

Chip manufacturers have slowed production to artificially inflate prices for awhile.

They'll probably have to start dropping prices again soon, tho. Hard drives are getting way cheaper to manufacture and there's still some competition from them.

[Racer X]

Well, you have 2 choices, tolerably priced, small and fast, or big, moderate speed and cheap.

[sekker]

My understanding is that the fab companies have hit a diminishing returns point.

Not sure if it's as fundamental as the hard drive makers, who are having real trouble getting too much more storage out of the same-sized magnetic platter.

I also think that the Internet is finally becoming a reality and reducing the need for local storage. I just purchased a 16GB iphone5S for my daughter. It's more than enough for her, as she listens to most music via pandora or spotify. So all she needs is enough storage for apps, and she has only 7 GB after using an iPhone for two years.

Demand is going up a bit as people are buying more smartphones, but that type of SSD doesn't have to be so fast.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

>> Chip manufacturers have slowed production to artificially inflate prices for awhile.
This, and a couple more possible reasons. SSD prices tend to suffer from similar problems as Apple products. They usually sell for an accepted price until either something new comes out for less or a retailer decides they don't want them on the shelf any more. The computer market has been slowing down because people are buying tablets, and this is not the time of the year that electronics and computer retailers cut prices except for an occasional Black Friday or a loss leader. Late Jan. or early Feb. should get some price drops.

[Bill in NC]

Prices on the larger sizes (500MB, 1TB) are coming down.

[Black]

Bill in NC wrote:
Prices on the larger sizes (500MB, 1TB) are coming down.

Really? I was almost ready to buy the 480 GB Sandisk Extreme early this year when the price dropped to $299, but now you can't come close to that on a ~500 GB SSD.

[Chakravartin]

sekker wrote:
My understanding is that the fab companies have hit a diminishing returns point.

Nah.

They're not as hard pressed as CPU manufacturers who are now up against quantum effects and probably can't scale CPU components down more than they already are. (The difference between a 20nm chip and a 14nm chip is the description the marketing department used.)

NAND is at least a couple of generations behind in that regard. Probably won't hit the wall until 2016.

They're just taking advantage of market-perception for higher profits. When there was a small fire in a manufacturing plant a couple of months ago, a bunch of them slowed production even though it only affected one company and the plant was fully operational a week after the event. That company (Hynix) isn't bringing the factory back online until "late winter" - well into 2014.

[Bill in NC]

1TB (class) SSDs are closing in on $500:

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=960GM5SSD1&c=FR&pid=b91df8d69e14da5f1458318a1ea5ca6f1a44faafcb9f152b1cae795e1c009a01&gclid=CMrNrtTL7roCFYNxOgodVDwACA

Black wrote:
[quote=Bill in NC]
Prices on the larger sizes (500MB, 1TB) are coming down.

Really? I was almost ready to buy the 480 GB Sandisk Extreme early this year when the price dropped to $299, but now you can't come close to that on a ~500 GB SSD.