AI boom is boosting demand even for HDDs, raising prices by up to 20% since Q3

Hard drives are now being sold at elevated prices and the sector is even experiencing shortages thanks to AI-driven demand, which has similarly boosted prices for SSDs and GPUs. At least one hard drive manufacturer, Western Digital, has expressed its intentions to raise hard drive prices per a letter shared by TrendForce. The …

[Anonymous Coward]

What, were we actually supposed to be surpised that ML workloads use nearline?

That said, this announcement still amounts to more arm waving to cover price gouging.

Their not getting hit with increased costs, they are just squeezing the market, which has consolidated to a duopoly. Duopolies don't compete much, the leader sets a price point and the follower sets just underneath it, regardless of other market forces.

The only thing that will pause this cycle is a real disruption that impacts prices, or another slap on the wrist fine for price fixing. Those usually only last 2-3 years, arrive once a decade or so, and take years to work through the courts. So while a brazen statement like this from WD basically admitting what's happening may show up in court, it will be a very different 2030's era in all likelihood.