OWC Raises Memory Card and SSD Prices as AI Demand Tightens Supply

Fast memory cards and backup SSDs just got more expensive again, and the biggest hit lands on the exact gear photographers and videographers use every day. OWC said its Atlas memory cards and SSDs have been climbing in price since late last year, with an average increase of about 6% across the portfolio versus April, but the real pain comes from the sharp jumps on specific high-capacity models.

The steepest increase is on the 1TB Express 1M2 USB4 External SSD, which moved from $329.99 to $429.99, a 30% jump. The 80G Express 1M2 rose 24%, and the 8TB version climbed from $1,729.99 to $2,099.99. On the card side, the 480GB Atlas Pro CFexpress 4.0 Type A card and the 2TB Atlas Ultra CFexpress 4.0 Type B card each increased 14%, while the 960GB Atlas Pro CFexpress 4.0 Type A card rose 11%.

This matters because OWC is not selling generic storage here. Its Atlas Ultra CFexpress Type B card is marketed for burst RAW and 8K video, and OWC’s 1TB version was listed at $629.99 on the company’s product page. The Express 1M2 80G is pitched as a USB4 Version 2.0 80Gb/s drive that delivers more than 6,000MB/s real-world performance, the kind of speed that makes offloading, editing, and working off scratch storage feel fluid instead of painful.

The pressure is coming from outside photography. OWC’s January 8 price-revision notice said the company was raising prices because of surging demand for semiconductor memory for AI and data centers, along with sharply rising flash memory prices. TrendForce has said limited near-term NAND capacity expansion and surging AI demand should keep NAND pricing strong through 2026, while Avnet said memory quotes are often only good for 1 to 30 days and pricing is frequently finalized at shipment rather than at order.

That is the part working shooters need to plan around. Event shooters, commercial photographers, and anyone moving large RAW or video files will feel it first, because fast cards and reliable SSDs are not optional when the job depends on quick ingest and safe backups. The smartest move right now is to buy only what you need for active projects, watch for temporary discounts on competing drives, and budget with a buffer because storage pricing is moving faster than most gear cycles. OWC’s April presence around NAB 2026 shows the company is still targeting professional creative workflows, but the bill for that workflow is getting heavier.