Data Storage Market Prices to Rise: HDD Shortage to Last Until 2028

In the global technology market, hard disk drive (HDD) prices are expected to rise significantly, and product shortages are likely to persist for the coming years. According to a report by the world-renowned investment firm Morgan Stanley, the gap between supply and demand will not be closed until at least 2028. This situation will lead to higher costs for storage devices not only for large corporate clients but also for ordinary users. This is reported by Ixbt.com news reports.

Currently, industry leaders such as Western Digital and Seagate have begun gradually increasing the prices of their products. Morgan Stanley analysts note that annual demand for HDD devices in the global market is growing by around 40-50%. The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and the need to build massive Data Centers are cited as the primary drivers of this growth.

Artificial Intelligence and Data Volume

Mechanical hard drives have a higher capacity per unit of storage compared to other types of memory carriers. Therefore, companies working with cloud technologies and AI models still cannot abandon HDD services. However, the growth rate of production capacities lags significantly behind demand — the annual growth of supply is only 30-35%.

This trend is inevitable to impact the Uzbekistan market as well. Given the acceleration of digitalization processes and the expansion of local server infrastructures in our country, the need for HDD devices will increase. The rise in global prices will directly affect the costs of the local IT sector and entrepreneurs dealing in computer components.

Prices Expected to Double

Currently, the price per terabyte of hard drive capacity is averaging below 15 dollars. However, according to Morgan Stanley research, suppliers plan to raise this figure to between 25 and 30 dollars within the next two to three years. This means the price of storage devices could nearly double.

This situation may force users to focus more on alternative solutions, specifically SSD (Solid State Drive) devices. However, for long-term storage (archiving) of very large volumes of data, HDD remains the most economically viable solution. According to Ixbt.com, production constraints and raw material supply issues are also among the factors accelerating price increases.

In conclusion, the tech world will experience a period of "disk scarcity" over the next four years. This will prompt not only PC builders but also companies managing large server systems to rethink their strategies. The increase in data storage costs may, in turn, lead to higher tariffs for cloud services.