Flash drive prices bump along, as SAS HDDs gain mystery bounce

Flash Drive Prices Dip, SAS HDDs Surge in Unexpected 2025 Twist

March 4, 2025 – Flash drive prices are on a gradual decline, while SAS hard disk drives (HDDs) are experiencing an unexpected 18% increase in price per gigabyte. Recent data analyzed by Computer Weekly reveals a mixed bag of trends in the storage market in early 2025.

Prices of solid-state drives (SSDs) have been decreasing since September 2024, dropping from $0.085 per gigabyte to just under $0.079—a 7% decrease over the last two quarters. This downward trend follows a broader decline from a peak of $0.095 in April 2024 when SSD prices had surged by 26.67% from the highs in autumn 2023. At that time, manufacturers limited production to boost profits. However, as supply increased, demand did not keep pace, leading to a drop in prices.

On the other hand, SAS spinning disk HDDs have seen a rise in cost per gigabyte from $0.041 to $0.049 since September 2024—an 18% increase that has caught the attention of industry experts. While the exact reason for this price hike is unclear, the introduction of high-capacity HDDs in 2024, such as Western Digital's 32TB shingled drive and Toshiba's 24TB and 28TB units, may indicate shifting dynamics in the market. Overall, the prices of spinning disks (SAS and SATA combined) have seen minimal change, moving from $0.039 to $0.041, masking the notable increase in SAS drives.

These findings are based on Computer Weekly's in-depth analysis, which gathered data on over 65,000 drive prices from Amazon.com through Diskprices.com since March 2023. The dataset includes information on TLC, QLC, and MLC flash drives as well as SAS and SATA HDDs. While Amazon's pricing may not directly reflect enterprise costs, the extensive data provides a reliable indicator of broader trends.

While SSD prices continue to decline, the situation is different for SAS HDDs, which are showing a significant price increase. The potential factors behind this surge remain uncertain, but the introduction of new high-capacity drives may be influencing supply and demand dynamics in specific market segments.

For consumers, the choice between SSDs and SAS HDDs involves considering not only the price per gigabyte but also the total ownership costs. Although SSDs have a lower upfront cost at $0.079 per gigabyte compared to SAS HDDs at $0.049, maintenance costs should also be factored in. SSDs boast a lower annual failure rate of 0.9% according to Backblaze's 2023 data, compared to HDDs' 1.57% in 2024. Additionally, the decision between HDDs and SSDs depends on factors such as capacity, with HDDs ranging from under 1TB to 26TB and SSDs typically averaging 12TB.

As the trends in flash drives and SAS HDDs continue to evolve in 2025, the storage market remains dynamic. Stay tuned for further developments in this ongoing narrative.