Hard drives on backorder for two years as AI data centers trigger HDD shortage — delays forcing rapid transition to QLC SSDs

The race to achieve AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) has driven companies to invest in and build data centers at a pace far greater than our ability to build them. Manufacturers are struggling to meet AI demand, and the ongoing DRAM shortage is proof of this, with memory kits costing more than double what they were a few months ago. Now, DigiTimes is reporting that storage is also being impacted, with delivery times for enterprise-grade HDDs being delayed by two years.

This means that if a company wants to purchase a large capacity hard drive, which is the backbone of nearshore storage, it will have to wait 24 months due to the long lead time. As the news cycle shows, AI money waits for no one, so hyperscalers are now switching to QLC NAND-based SSDs to avoid these backorders. Choosing QLC over TLC allows them to maintain costs while still achieving adequate endurance for cold storage.

However, the hoarding of QLC NAND creates its own shortage, as every cloud provider in North America and China is now lining up to buy it. This could lead to higher SSD prices worldwide, as most value-oriented models use QLC to save costs. In fact, DigiTimes claims that some NAND manufacturers have QLC production capacity fully booked until 2026.

Therefore, given the current situation, QLC NAND is expected to overtake TLC in popularity by early 2027, marking a significant change in the storage landscape. While enterprise-grade QLC SSDs will absolutely power this pivot, according to another DigiTimes report, Sandisk has already raised NAND prices by 50% after initially warning of a 10% increase two months ago.