Unit prices for 1TB SSDs for gaming devices have fallen more than 50% since 2018, which is expected to help upgrade the mainstream storage specs of gaming SSDs to the range of 512GB-1TB, according to industry sources.

The sources said that 1TB gaming SSD used to sell for around NT$10,000 (US$324.29) per unit before declining to NT$8,000 in early 2018 along with NAND flash price falls. Unit prices for such SSDs have plunged sharply to NT$4,000-NT$5,000 or even down to a little over NT$3,000 for the moment, due partly to drastic NAND price falls driven by increases in new production capacity.

Despite growing adoption of NAND flash chips in SSDs, the prices will see a sequential drop of over 15% in the first quarter of 2019 thanks to weakening total bit demand for PC-use SSDs and SSD price falls.

Minimum prices for mainstream 8GB and 4GB memory modules have fallen under the level of US$60 and US$30, respectively, and may decline further by the end of the first quarter as memory makers are under increasing pressure to digest inventories amid strong wait-and-see sentiment in terminal markets, said the sources.

The sources continued that shipments of gaming DDR4 high-spec modules have been affected by the shortages of Intel CPUs, driving gaming consumers to turn to AMD platforms. This has pushed up AMD's share of the gaming market to 17% and increased shipments of DDR4 3200 MHz and under modules, compared to a slowdown in shipments of 3600-4000 MHz modules.