Strong demand for AI has led to a price increase for mechanical hard drives for five consecutive quarters.

According to reports, there is a strong demand for AI, leading mechanical hard drive manufacturers to prioritize data center orders, resulting in a shortage of consumer-grade HDDs and a continuous price increase for five consecutive quarters, with a significant widening of the price increase. Currently, HDD manufacturers negotiate prices with customers on a quarterly basis. The latest benchmark product contract price for the second quarter of 2026 has increased by 10% compared to the first quarter. Previously, the quarterly price increase for HDDs was only 1%-4%, but this quarter the increase is significantly larger. The report also states that, with the AI boom, manufacturers are increasing production of high-capacity "nearline hard drives" specifically for data centers, and the contract price for this type of product in the second quarter also increased by about 10% compared to the previous quarter. According to manufacturers, about 60% of nearline hard drives are purchased by US cloud giants such as Google and Amazon, and their market share is increasing year by year. However, "even so, US manufacturers are still unable to obtain an adequate supply of goods".