Global AI Demand Causes Storage Device Price Surge

New Delhi: Rising AI penetration has led to skyrocketing prices of common digital storage devices like pen drives and memory cards. Big players like Microsoft, Google, and Meta are buying large quantities of high-bandwidth memory chips from suppliers like Samsung and Micron for their AI datacenters. This global tussle has led to a shortage of DRAM and NAND technology in the market, which is directly impacting retail consumers. According to an IDC report, the price of memory chips is rising by up to 25 per cent every month. The price of 32GB pen drives in Delhi's wholesale market, which was ₹180 in January, has gone up to ₹360 in March. These prices are being updated daily, disrupting the budgets of not only ordinary users but also professionals associated with the videography and photography industry during the wedding season. This crisis is not limited to small memory gates, but experts are also predicting a 10% increase in the cost of manufacturing PCs and a demand imbalance from 2026 to 2026.