Silicon Motion VP Says Retail SSD Market Has Almost Disappeared
The statement from a top executive at the dominant controller supplier confirms that the AI boom has structurally shifted the SSD market away from consumer retail toward OEM and data center channels.
Reporting from 1 sources: GIGAZINE.
Nelson Duann, Vice President of Silicon Motion, the world's largest SSD controller maker, said the retail SSD market has nearly vanished by the first half of 2026. NAND suppliers have diverted capacity to AI data centers, forcing PC makers to buy finished SSDs from module manufacturers instead of directly from NAND vendors.
Nelson Duann, Vice President of Silicon Motion, told Tom's Hardware that the retail SSD market has almost disappeared by the first half of 2026. The shift follows NAND flash suppliers diverting capacity to AI data centers, which has driven up consumer SSD prices and reduced allocations for client PCs. PC makers including Acer, ASUS, Dell, and HP are now sourcing finished SSDs from module manufacturers rather than buying NAND directly. Duann said the change accelerated from late 2025, with OEM demand strengthening significantly. Module manufacturers, once focused on aftermarket products, now supply a growing share of their output to PC makers. For Silicon Motion, the trend means more controllers end up in OEM PCs and server drives, which Duann described as a tailwind for independent controller developers.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.