Investing.com-- Samsung Electronics (KS:005930)plans to end production of budget solid-state drives used primarily in consumer electronics in the coming year, a popular tech leaker said, as it switches focus to supplying the artificial intelligence industry.
Youtuber Moore’s Law is Dead, known for leaking information on consumer electronics, said in a weekend video that Samsung could announce as soon as January that it plans to end production of Serial ATA solid state drives (SATA SSD) in the coming years.
The move comes as Samsung shifts focus to more premium and high-margin chips, with a bulk of production to be aimed at meeting demands for high-bandwith memory (HBM) in the AI industry.
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SATA SSDs are a relatively budget class of memory drives that are used in consumer electronics. While SATA is largely outclassed by Non-Volatile Memory Express SSDs, the former is still popular as a cheaper alternative in consumer electronics.
Moore’s Law is Dead warned that an end to SATA SSD production was likely to drive up memory prices across the board in the coming year, with supply coming under pressure from outsized AI demand.
Samsung did not immediately respond to a mailed request for comment.
Samsung and SK Hynix were seen increasing their memory chip prices in recent months, stating that current production levels were unable to keep up with AI-fueled demand for memory and processing units.
HBM is a key component of the high-end chips used in AI servers. Both Samsung and SK Hynix supply HBM to NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), which currently makes the most advanced AI chips in the market.
The Samsung leak also comes just a week after U.S. memory chip giant Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) said it will exit its Crucial consumer business in order to redirect supply to the AI industry.
AI’s growing appetite for memory is expected to disrupt consumer electronics production in the coming year. Lenovo Group (HK:0992), the world’s largest PC maker, recently flagged headwinds from rising memory prices, as did Dell Technologies Inc (NYSE:DELL), with both companies warning that prices were likely to increase in the coming months.
Concerns over AI exposure also weighed on tech valuations in recent weeks, amid questions over just how and when major AI spenders planned to turn a profit on their massive investments.
Samsung shares fell 3.5% on Monday, and were among the top weights on the KOSPI, which sank more than 1%. Rival memory chip developer SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) also fell 3%, amid a broader rout in stocks with artificial intelligence exposure.








