Global Channel SSD Shipments Fall 14% in 2024, Says TrendForce

TrendForce Corp.’s latest research indicates that the global client SSD market experienced a price low in 2023, followed by gradual stabilization of supply and demand and a price rebound in 2024.

However, retail SSD sales face challenges due to ongoing weak consumer electronics demand and notebook SSD attach rates reaching 100%. This has led to reduced shipments from SSD module makers. Channel SSD shipments for 2024 are projected at 101 million units, reflecting a 14% YoY decrease.

TrendForce has released its 2024 rankings for SSD module makers based on shipment data of their own-brand SSDs in the channel market. The top 5 companies now control over 80% of the market, signaling ongoing consolidation. Kingston remains the leading brand with a 36% market share, supported by its extensive channel presence and product reliability. Adata ranks second with 13%, driven by aggressive marketing of gaming and premium consumer products, along with the quick deployment of PCIe 4.0 and 5.0 SSDs.

Lexar took third place with an 11% share, propelled by ongoing growth in China and across global retail channels. Kimtigo and Biwin – ranked 4th and 5th, respectively, by a small margin – both capitalized on strong domestic demand and actively expanded internationally. Colorful held 6th place, sustaining a competitive price-performance edge through its in-house controller and NAND development.

SCY reached the top 10 for the 1st time, securing the seventh position, thanks to increasing penetration in China’s retail channels. Gigabyte, PNY, and Transcend occupied the 8th to 10th places: Gigabyte continued to benefit from its gaming brand influence, PNY maintained a strong presence across North American and European markets, and Transcend remained concentrated on industrial and professional applications.

TrendForce observes that with the increasing adoption of AI in PCs and edge devices in 2025, the demand for high-capacity, high-performance SSDs will accelerate. SSD module makers that focus on improving technical integration, channel strategies, and brand positioning are likely to be better positioned to succeed in the upcoming growth cycle.

Comments

As usual TrendForce produces an interesting report and figures to better understand and see the market evolution and trends. This November report covers 2024 that shows a pretty strong activity that appears to be more difficult for a few months and expected to be tough in the coming months due to production and pricing pressures.

The other lesson is that 80% of the business here is controlled by 5 brands: Kingston, Adata, Lexar, Kimtigo and Biwin with a strong lead by Kingston with 36% almost tripled the second place. Kingston reports to have approximately 240% pricing increase of NAND wafer this year that will significantly impacts negatively pricing in 2026. And it is more global as memory and SSD are impacted by this pricing among large market segments and for data center and enterprise sit is even more visible. We'll see at what price the large capacity 245-250TB QLC SSDs will enter the market.

With other market segments, NAND manufacturers, SSD controllers or SSD players face a real demand challenge of course fueled by AI and related workloads everywhere. There was a clear shift from several years pricing reduction to a period of raising.