In the first quarter of this year, the average selling price (ASP) of enterprise solid-state drives (eSSD) fell by nearly 20% due to inventory excess and a decrease in orders from corporations.
According to the market research firm TrendForce on the 19th, the ASP of eSSD in the first quarter of this year dropped by about 20%, and as a result, the sales of major eSSD companies such as Samsung Electronics, SK hynix (including Solidigm), Micron, and Kioxia have decreased.
TrendForce analyzed, "The eSSD market was negatively affected by production disruptions in next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) systems and ongoing inventory excess in North America."
Samsung Electronics recorded a 34.9% decrease in eSSD sales in the first quarter compared to the previous quarter, amounting to $1.89 billion, due to seasonal factors and weak demand. However, by increasing the shipment of the latest PCIe 5.0 products, its market share slightly rose from 39.5% in the last quarter of the previous year to 39.6%.
SK hynix was hit hardest due to strategic adjustments from major AI infrastructure clients. The sales of SK hynix and its subsidiary Solidigm in the first quarter of this year plummeted by 56.8% to $994 million compared to the previous quarter. Its market share also dropped by 10.5 percentage points to 20.8%, widening the gap with the top-ranked Samsung Electronics.
Micron, in third place, fared relatively better. With the momentum of high-capacity product shipments continuing since last year and a gradual increase in PCIe 5.0 product shipments, it recorded sales of $852 million, showing a relatively mild decrease of 27.3%, compared to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. During this period, its market share rose by 1.9 percentage points to 17.9% (3rd), quickly catching up to SK hynix.
The market situation is expected to improve starting in the second quarter. TrendForce noted, "With the full-scale shipment of Nvidia's new chips, the demand for AI infrastructure in North America is increasing, and China's cloud service providers (CSPs) are steadily expanding their data center storage capacity," adding, "This trend will invigorate the eSSD market."