AI Demand Drives Storage Price Surge

Solid-state drives and hard disk drives have experienced significant price increases throughout 2026. The surge is attributed to high-volume procurement by AI data centers and cloud hyperscalers requiring massive storage capacity for training and analytics. Western Digital reported that its 2026 production output is largely committed to firm purchase orders from major customers.

A 2TB SSD that cost between $120 and $200 last year now retails for approximately $400.