Retail SSD market nearly disappears as NAND supply shifts to AI data centers

The retail SSD market has nearly vanished in the first half of 2026, according to Silicon Motion executive Nelson Duann. NAND manufacturers have shifted supply to AI data centers, starving the consumer PC channel.

NAND vendors prioritize data center products

Silicon Motion makes SSD controllers that it sells to module makers. Those module makers now supply most of their drives to PC OEMs like Acer, Asus, Dell, and HP.

NAND vendors reduced allocation to the consumer PC market, redirecting NAND flash to data center products. As a result, PC OEMs are buying SSDs from module makers instead of directly from NAND manufacturers.

The controllers Silicon Motion sells to module makers are now largely ending up in SSDs shipped to PC OEMs, Duann said. This shift reflects a fundamental change in the SSD supply chain.