AI Data-Center Demand Drives HDD Prices Higher for Fifth Quarter

The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence is fueling demand for data-center storage, pushing hard-disk-drive manufacturers to prioritize high-capacity nearline HDDs used by cloud and enterprise customers. That shift is tightening supplies of general-purpose drives, adding pricing pressure to a mature storage market that had previously been shaped by slower personal-computer demand and competition from solid-state drives.

Prices for a benchmark HDD product rose 10% in the second quarter of 2026 from the previous three months, marking a fifth consecutive quarterly increase and a notable acceleration in the pace of gains. The latest rise reflects robust procurement by AI-focused data centers and shortages of general-purpose models as suppliers direct capacity toward nearline products, potentially keeping HDD prices elevated in the second half of the year.