{"title": "Analysis Shows USB Drives and Memory Cards Facing Steep Price Hikes", "body": ["Prices for RAM and storage components have surged dramatically in recent months, with mixed signals on whether the increases have topped out. These cost escalations are now extending beyond integrated systems like desktops, gaming hardware, and smartphones to impact simple accessories such as USB thumb drives and memory cards."], ["Roughly five months back, a PCWorld feature discussed affordable methods to expand laptop storage without internal modifications, highlighting a 512GB Samsung MicroSD card purchased for less than $50. Today, that identical model appears only through Amazon's secondary sellers at around $120. Similarly, a standard 512GB USB-A thumb drive now begins at $80, precisely twice its peak value from 2025."], ["To gauge the situation, an informal review scanned Amazon listings for USB-A drives, USB-C variants, full-size SD cards, and MicroSD options in capacities of 64GB for essentials, 128GB for moderate use, 512GB for substantial storage needs, and 1TB for effortless long-term capacity. While Amazon represents just one retailer, its integrated price history tracker, CamelCamelCamel, offers straightforward year-over-year comparisons. The findings, tied to specific product pages for verification, reveal the following trends."], ["The data indicates substantial year-long price rises across all categories, with several items more than doubling in cost. The underlying cause likely stems from ongoing challenges in memory chip manufacturing, which are also driving up expenses for end-user parts and complete products, including recent sharp hikes for Microsoft Surface devices and post-launch increases for gaming consoles—a rare occurrence."], ["CamelCamelCamel records show that not every item has reached its historical maximum, as certain models experienced comparable jumps earlier than 2025. Nevertheless, the overall pattern is evident: Even budget-friendly removable storage solutions are becoming prohibitively expensive."], ["These accessories typically move quickly off shelves compared to pricier internal RAM or drives in typical markets, making them particularly susceptible to supply disruptions. It's plausible that manufacturers such as Samsung and SanDisk will introduce reduced-capacity versions to sustain entry-level affordability. For tasks like transferring office documents or sharing family images through physical means, smaller sizes suffice without requiring vast amounts of space. However, this approach provides little relief for users relying on large-capacity cards for professional cameras, portable gaming devices like the Steam Deck, and similar applications. Stockpiling a few spares now could prove wise."]]}