The latest report from TrendForce highlights a dramatic increase in demand for enterprise SSDs driven by the surge in AI applications, leading to a significant rise in contract prices by over 80 percent from Q4 2023 to Q3 2024. This growth has been propelled by AI server customers who have markedly increased their SSD orders in recent quarters.
Details:
AI Impact on SSD Demand: AI server customers are placing larger orders for enterprise SSDs due to the crucial role these storage devices play in AI model training and inference. SSDs are essential for storing model parameters and creating checkpoints during training, as well as for real-time updates in inference processes.
Preferred SSD Specifications: To meet the high demands of AI applications, customers are opting for SSDs with 4 TB/8 TB capacities, particularly those with TLC (Triple-Level Cell) technology. For AI inference, which supports services like retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and large language models (LLMs), high-capacity SSDs such as TLC/QLC (Quad-Level Cell) 16 TB or larger are increasingly preferred.
Growth Projections: The demand for AI server SSDs is expected to see a growth rate exceeding 60 percent, with 2024 already showing a significant uptick in orders for SSDs larger than 16 TB. The introduction of NVIDIA’s H100, H20, and H200 series products has further fueled this demand.
TrendForce projects that AI-related SSD procurement will surpass 45 exabytes (EB) in 2024, with AI-driven SSD demand potentially rising from 5 percent of total NAND Flash consumption in 2024 to 9 percent in 2025.
Future Developments: To keep up with the growing demand, suppliers are accelerating their process upgrades, aiming for the mass production of 2YY/3XX-layer SSD products by 2025, and eventually producing enterprise SSDs with capacities up to 120 TB.
This surge in AI-driven SSD demand is set to reshape the enterprise storage market, with suppliers racing to meet the evolving needs of AI servers.
