Some prices have already doubled.
There's a rumor circulating in the technology industry claiming that a major manufacturer is planning on temporarily pausing production of 2.5-inch SATA SSDs for up to 18 months.
An ignorant commenter falsely claimed that hardly anyone uses 2.5-inch SATA SSDs anymore, so a pause wouldn't affect the market. This isn't the case!
There are an estimated 800 million to 1.2 billion older computers (desktops and laptops) still in active use worldwide as of late 2025 that lack an M.2 NVMe slot.[1]
Considering roughly 1% or less of computers experience a faulty primary drive annually (assuming they're using a 2.5-inch SATA SSD), this means that 12 to 18 million will strain the market during this 18-month pause. This amount will be higher if we factor in 3.5-inch hard drives.
A shortage will force these consumers to pay a higher price to replace their 2.5-inch SATA SSD, or purchase a compatible M.2 NVMe to PCIe adapter and an M.2 NVMe SSD.
This could be challenging or impossible for some consumers with a Mini-ITX motherboard that usually has one PCIe slot that's already being used by a GPU.
Consumers with an extra PCIe slot would need to follow these steps before they purchase an M.2 NVMe to PCIe adapter:
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Check if their motherboard can boot data from a PCIe slot. If it can't, they won't be able to load the OS.
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Check if the M.2 NVMe to PCIe adapter is compatible with their motherboard and BIOS version.
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Check if the M.2 NVMe to PCIe adapter can fit in their case.
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Check if the M.2 NVMe SSD is compatible with the M.2 NVMe to PCIe adapter.
It can be time-consuming to find out this information, given the wide range of parts and firmware that's involved. It's a whole lot easier to replace a 2.5-inch SATA SSD with another 2.5-inch SATA SSD.
This rumor aligns with Micron Technology, Inc. announcing its exit from the consumer market, with the last shipments scheduled for February 2026. Their 2.5-inch SSDs have already doubled in price!
This is an unfortunate outcome, considering most of the really cheap used motherboards that I find, complete with a CPU and RAM, usually have only one PCIe slot.