SUMMARY
The price of memory cards for cameras and other consumer devices is rising due to a significant shift in production capacity towards AI infrastructure. Major NAND flash manufacturers are prioritizing high-density, high-endurance memory for data centers and AI systems, which pay more. Lexar representatives indicate this is a long-term structural change, not a temporary issue, meaning the trend of falling storage prices has stalled. This shift has caused capacities like 256GB to become less common, with 128GB becoming the new standard for many users.
TAKEAWAYS
AI infrastructure demands are consuming memory production capacity.
This shift is causing higher prices and lower capacity options for consumer memory cards.
Lexar views this price increase as a long-term structural change in the industry.
The trend of decreasing storage costs has halted due to these industry-wide changes.