Why do hdd cost so much

Most are tight-lipped on the issue, at least publicly. But in the end, I was able to glean enough information to say that there are two major reasons. The first is the technology itself. SSDs, those that are used for computers, typically use higher-performing components, which sell at higher prices than the components used in USB drives and flash memory cards. In addition, an SSD requires a complex process of assembly for its components to work well together.

For example, the controller and firmware must be carefully integrated to get the most out of the design. On top of that, SSDs are generally put through hours of compatibility and stability testing. These steps add to the cost of making them. The second reason is the general law of supply and demand. And in the case of SDDs this applies in two areas. The first one is the market itself. Since the demand for retail SSDs on the market is rather low, vendors make less profit--if at all--from them and therefore have to increase the price to cover the production cost.

But I am willing to bet SSDs will soon replace even those in datacenters. I use the term "soon" loosely. Nice work! You'd make a great price analyst for long-term contracts. Billtbyhand This person is a verified professional. I don't think so. They would be dumb not to. Some hosting and backup centers already offer SSD storage. Let alone the fact that there are Floppies compared to HDD's. Total apples to oranges as far as price is concerned.

I would bet if you could find SSD prices for between when they were introduced because they aren't listed in your source and now, we might be able to predict how much longer until they normalize and replace traditional HDD.

KarlosDaTechGuy This person is a verified professional. Dvcdank Oct 13, at UTC. KarlosDaTechGuy wrote: HDD's won't be obsolete anytime soon as long as people are looking for low cost "budget" computers. While more is nice, with cloud storage these days you don't really need that much space locally as a consumer. It's not just price, it's also capacity. It is a question of when, not if. Spartan This person is a verified professional.

KarlosDaTechGuy wrote: HDD's won't be obsolete anytime soon as long as people are looking for low cost "budget" computers You say this like it's a BAD thing, what are you, one of those guys who deliberately overpays for computers? Now my home server is a synology nas with 28TB in it.. This topic has been locked by an administrator and is no longer open for commenting. Read these next They don't appear to be the same drive.

They are the same size, etc. Last edited: Jan 28, ImpulsE69 Lifer. Jan 8, 14, C1 Platinum Member. Feb 21, 2, 56 Sep 16, 6, 5 From what I understand, HDDs have different grades like almost every other semiconductor-based product. CPUs are binned.

GPUs are binned. Why not HDDs, at least on a mechanical basis even if the platters are identical? So the lower bins go into external drives as they are assumed to not be worn and torn as much as internal HDDs. Mfusick Senior member. Dec 20, 0 0. MrX Diamond Member. Oct 23, 4, 0 0. When I cracked it open it was a rpm Black! Ketchup Elite Member. Sep 1, 14, I think it was the flood.

More people are buying externals for backup right now, so that market is more competitive, and those prices are coming down faster. I believe internals will continue come down in price, just will take a longer amount of time. Feb 18, 7, 2 Last edited: Jan 30, If more people are buying externals, that would make them more expensive.

There is not more competition in the external market. There are the same number of drive manufacturers producing the same number of models of drives. I have a Quantum Bigfoot 12Gb hard drive just laying around.

I found out that they go around - dollars. My first guest would be the magnets. What are in these that make them expensive? Are they actually selling for that price in quantity or is somebody just putting that up on ebay or amazon and seeing if anyone bites? I've seen this before with old parts where supply and demand goes sideways and somebody who needs a particular old part is willing to pay hundreds just because they need that exact replacement for an old system that they can't upgrade.

Maybe an old ATM machine model requires that exact model or something like that and drives the price through the roof for an obsolete hard drive. A lot of machine shops and other manufacturing places have old equipment.

It is much cheaper to keep these old computers going than replacing their whole manufacturing line with new equipment. I guess it is a supply vs.