Gear
SUMMARY
LaCie is discontinuing its Rugged SSD4 and Rugged SSD Pro portable SSDs, launched just last year, due to a severe global shortage of flash memory. The increasing cost of high-speed NAND flash, driven by AI data center demand, has made these high-performance drives economically unviable to produce. Prices for comparable drives have surged dramatically, with the 4TB Rugged SSD Pro increasing by 167% in under 18 months.
TAKEAWAYS
LaCie is discontinuing its Rugged SSD4 and Rugged SSD Pro portable SSDs.
A global shortage of flash memory is driving up component costs.
Increased demand from AI data centers is a primary cause of the shortage.
The high cost of components makes the fastest SSDs economically unviable.