One high-speed card costs over 4,000 yuan, and storage card prices have doubled! Some consumers lament, "Stock trading and gold are not as good as stocking up on cards."

“Why bother trading stocks or gold? I should have just stockpiled some memory cards…” On February 25, Hongxing Capital Bureau learned from multiple digital product consumers that the prices of camera memory cards, once considered camera accessories, have surged. Most SD cards, TF cards, and CFexpress Type-B cards (hereafter “CFB cards”) have doubled in price.

Consumer Guo Chen (pseudonym) recently planned to buy a 1TB CFB high-speed card to match his new camera but found the price had already exceeded 4,000 yuan, more than double the previous price. In the end, he chose to purchase an SD card.

Other camera memory cards have also seen varying increases. A consumer who bought a TF card a week before the Spring Festival reported a price increase of over 46% in just ten days; another consumer noted that their SD card price rose from over 600 yuan to more than 1,000 yuan.

Several camera equipment store owners also sensed this change. One shop owner said that overall, camera memory card prices have doubled, with some even rising three or four times.

Analysts believe that the surge in camera memory card prices, with many categories doubling, results from upstream cost transmission, structural shifts in production capacity, and resonance with end-user demand. It is not short-term speculation. They recommend that users with urgent needs prioritize reputable brands and necessary capacities. Those without urgent needs can delay purchases and watch the market in the second half of the year.

[Image source: TuChong Creative]

Camera Memory Card Prices Doubling

Some consumers lament “Stockpiling cards is better than trading stocks”

“I only knew that computer memory prices had gone up. Recently, I bought a new camera and just realized the memory cards have also increased,” Guo Chen said. He planned to buy a 1TB CFB high-speed card for his new camera but found the price had risen to over 4,000 yuan, up from around 2,000-3,000 yuan.

Guo Chen told Hongxing Capital Bureau that most cameras come with SD cards, TF cards are usually used in action cameras and small devices, while CFB cards are used in some high-end flagship cameras.

Because the price exceeded his expectations, he decided to buy a V60 SD card for temporary use. “I don’t shoot much video now, and the SD card is enough, but for video, I recommend CFB for faster read/write speeds and less lag.”

Other camera memory cards have also increased in price. Guo Chen recalled that a V30 SD card he previously used rose from 118 yuan to 184 yuan.

Consumer Zhou Ming (pseudonym) also found memory cards “very expensive” after buying a DJI product. A week before the Spring Festival, he bought a SanDisk 256GB Gold TF card for 269 yuan, which had doubled compared to last year. After the festival, the price rose again, now costing 394 yuan.

“I only knew memory prices were rising. Recently, I bought an SD card and realized how much it had increased,” said consumer Zhu Xiao (pseudonym). He also found that Lexar’s official flagship store’s 128GB V60 memory card had risen above 1,000 yuan, from just over 600 yuan before. “Why bother trading stocks or gold? I should have just stockpiled some memory cards early.”

Several camera equipment store owners also noticed this trend. Store owner Sun Jun (pseudonym) said that camera memory card prices have risen sharply, with overall increases of two to four times. Liu Xu (pseudonym), another store owner, also noted that the price increase is the highest among camera accessories, with some rising by as much as 60%.

Fu Yifu, a researcher at Sushang Bank, pointed out that the widespread doubling of camera memory card prices results from upstream cost transmission, structural shifts in capacity, and end-user demand resonance. It is not short-term speculation. On one hand, supply of storage chips has contracted, with Samsung and Micron planning significant reductions in NAND and DRAM production starting in 2025, leading to inventory levels at a five-year low and causing flash memory prices to surge. On the other hand, AI servers are capturing capacity, with manufacturers prioritizing advanced processes for higher-margin enterprise storage, squeezing consumer memory card capacity. Additionally, the surge in demand during the Spring Festival travel season and content creation needs has driven procurement, while channel stockpiling has further intensified shortages, amplifying price increases.

Volatile and Gradually Rising

Storage card price increases may slow in the second half of the year

As essential accessories for cameras, storage cards have sparked market speculation about their role in driving up camera prices.

Hongxing Capital Bureau observed that in recent years, many popular camera models have also seen continuous price increases. Consumer Zhao Min (pseudonym) recently found that a popular camera she had been watching for two years had risen from 2,000 yuan to 4,000-5,000 yuan. She was excited to order but then chose to cancel the purchase, citing excessive premium.

On social media, Ricoh cameras are highly sought after. The Ricoh GR series, once priced around 1,000 yuan, has now risen to 10,000 yuan. Some consumers reported that their secondhand Ricoh GR3 (99% new) purchased on February 13 has yet to be shipped.

However, Liu Xu told Hongxing Capital Bureau that the increase in storage card prices has some impact on camera prices but is not significant. “Most of the current price hikes are for popular models with CCD sensors, driven by hype, and not all cameras are holding their value,” he said. He added that a popular model sold for over 8,000 yuan last October but now costs around 6,000 yuan.

Jiang Han, senior researcher at Pangu Think Tank, said that as an essential camera accessory, the doubling of storage card prices significantly increases users’ overall ownership costs, which may suppress some potential demand or force consumers to lower their configurations. However, it has limited impact on the overall camera retail price. Storage cards are standardized, universal accessories, not core components of the camera body, which is usually sold as a bare unit. Therefore, rising memory card prices do not directly lead to higher factory prices for cameras.

Jiang Han explained that the capacity tightness in camera storage is due to manufacturers prioritizing limited wafer capacity for higher-margin enterprise and AI-related products, passively reducing supply for consumer-grade storage.

According to the latest TrendForce report from February, the prices of DRAM and NAND flash are expected to rise by 90%-95% and 55%-60% respectively in the first quarter of 2026, with further upward revisions possible.

Regarding future trends in camera storage card prices, Jiang Han predicts they will experience “high-level oscillation and slow upward movement.” As manufacturers ramp up utilization and release new capacity, the rapid price increases may slow in the second half of this year. However, due to overall inflation and high-end demand, prices are unlikely to fall back to previous lows. Consumers are advised to avoid blind stockpiling and choose appropriate capacities based on actual shooting needs.

Fu Yifu also believes that the surge in AI-related demand has led storage manufacturers to prioritize high-margin data center products, significantly constricting consumer memory card capacity. Supply remains tight. In the short term, camera storage card prices are likely to stay high. Adjustments in chip capacity and expansion cycles mean prices may not drop sharply in the first half of the year. If capacity is gradually released and demand stabilizes in the second half, prices could slowly decline. However, returning to previous low levels in the short term is unlikely. Consumers with urgent needs should prioritize reputable brands and necessary capacities; non-urgent buyers can delay purchases and monitor the market in the second half of the year.

Hongxing News Reporter: Yu Yao, Li Haiyan

Editor: Yu Dongmei

Reviewer: Guan Li