SSD prices down 38% in 2012, but up in Q4

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SSD prices fell by 38% in 2012. However, they actually went up in the fourth quarter, spurred largely by an end to OCZ's deep discounts

From The Tech Report:
2012 was a big year for solid-state drives. Multiple new models were released, some featuring fresh controller technology, and others with next-generation NAND. These drives were generally faster than their predecessors, but improved performance wasn't what made SSDs such a hit. Instead, it was plummeting prices.

At the beginning of the year, the median cost per gigabyte for a consumer-grade SSD was $1.64. By December 31, that figure had fallen 38% to $1.02. Drives in the 240-256GB range enjoyed the biggest decrease, dropping 44% to just $0.83 per gig by year's end. 120-128GB models didn't quite break the dollar-per-gig threshold in December, but their prices were cut by 34% over the course of the year. At least that's better than the 40-64GB SSDs we track; those currently ring in at about $1.29 per gig, a more modest 28% reduction from the beginning of 2012.

Although SSD prices fell steadily through the first three quarters of the year, they rebounded in Q4—and quite sharply in some cases. Here's a look at the numbers courtesy of the folks at Camelegg, who provided us with a bounty of data for analysis. Camelegg tracks prices at Newegg, which is a pretty good indicator of prevailing market conditions. We've limited this particular selection to drives that were in stock for the entire fourth quarter.

 SSD prices down 38% in 2012, but up in Q4