From what I can see, prices have already increased here in the German market. And, I understand it is at least partly due to there being a very large demand for everything associated with NAND Flash technology, which includes camera memory cards, as well as everything that has a power cord, or battery and has settings which need to be saved in the event it doesn't have energy.
From what I have read, AI data centers are one of the biggest reasons for the price increases. These data centers use a huge amount of NAND Enterprise SSD storage and the companies building these data centers are paying the highest prices because they have to have it. EV cars also use it, as do every other modern car regardless of if it is gasoline powered or diesel. If it has electronics inside, and is relatively modern then it uses NAND tech. Smartphones also depend on it So the smart phone manufacturers are also buying up NAND components for their flagship models.
Little, relatively cheap items, such as camera memory cards are a very low prioirity and therefore will probably face shortages in the future. I had a discussion with a team leader in the IT department of a large global tech company here in Germany this past week. He is a student of mine and he said the current estimates are at least shortages for the next 18 months. And, when there is a shortage, that means prices are high. Hopefully in the next 18 months, a new type of technology will be introduced that will make NAND tech obsolete for AI usage and the markets for us little, lowly consumers will relax.
