RAM and storage are expensive, and they have been going crazy for months, and now it looks like the damage is spreading beyond PCs, consoles and phones.
Prices for basic USB flash drives and memory cards are shooting up, which is a bit much for something meant to be disposable.
PCWorld ran a piece about five months ago on adding storage to a laptop without reaching for a screwdriver or swapping an SSD. The first MicroSD card mentioned was a 512GB Samsung model that the writer bought for less than $50, but it is now showing up at $120 from third-party Amazon sellers.
A plain 512GB USB-A flash drive, “nothing fancy”, now starts at $80. That is double what it cost at its highest point in 2025, which is the sort of maths that makes you want to throw the stick through a window.
To get a clearer look, the writer did a bit of “informal testing” and searched Amazon for four types: USB-A, USB-C, SD and MicroSD. Each was checked at 64GB for “basic needs”, 128GB for “a bit more breathing room”, 512GB for “big jobs” and 1TB for “plug it in and never think about it again” convenience.
Amazon is not the whole internet, but it has the handy third-party tracker CamelCamelCamel, so the comparison was made against the same listings from one year earlier. The numbers are ugly across the board.
USB-A went from $13 to $23 at 64GB, $17 to $30 at 128GB, $37 to $80 at 512GB and $90 to $153 at 1TB. USB-C followed the same pattern, shifting from $15 to $24 at 64GB, $19 to $29 at 128GB, $45 to $78 at 512GB and $110 to $150 at 1TB.
SD cards took the bigger slap, jumping from $14 to $35 for 64GB, $20 to $48 for 128GB, $60 to $110 for 512GB, and $125 to $259 for 1TB. MicroSD looked calmer at 64GB with $11 to $16, then went ferocious at higher capacities: $18 to $38 at 128GB, $39 to $107 at 512GB and $109 to $200 at 1TB.
Every category rose hard in the last year, with several more than doubling. The likely culprit is the same memory and storage production squeeze hammering consumer components and finished devices, including Microsoft Surface machines that have taken a giant price hike.
Game consoles getting more expensive years after launch is already a strange look, and removable storage following them up is worse. It turns a cheap stopgap into a budgeting decision, which is not what anyone wanted from a £10 equivalent USB stick.
CamelCamelCamel shows that some of these products are not at their all-time highs, with short-term spikes before 2025. The broader trend still points one way, and the cheaper options for removable storage are being priced out.
These drives probably sit on shelves for less time than RAM sticks and SSDs, so the supply crunch hits them faster. Vendors such as Samsung and SanDisk might start pushing lower capacities to keep a low-priced rung on the ladder.
That helps if you are shifting a few PowerPoints around an office or moving photos to family via sneakernet. It does nothing for people who need the big cards for DSLR cameras, Steam Decks and similar kit, and the drawer raid starts to feel like a serious strategy.
