Prepare for HDD availability trouble as they're getting sold out too

Component shortages are increasing thanks to the AI boom, and if you were thinking you could fall back on traditional HDDs - you would be wrong.

I know it's basically bad news after bad news right now, but that is the unfortunate reality. SSD prices are skyrocketing, RAM prices have become completely ridiculous, we've seen multiple hardware delays due to it all, and stock shortages, and it's just all thoroughly rubbish right now for consumers.

Adding to the troubles we're going to face - Western Digital had a recent Earnings Call where it was mentioned by CEO & Director Tiang Yew Tan that they're "pretty much sold out for calendar year '26" and they additionally have some long-term agreements for 2027 and 2028 already in place.

On top of that there was also the recent Earnings Call from Seagate where CEO & Chairman William Mosley mentioned their "nearline capacity is fully allocated through calendar year 2026, and we expect to begin accepting orders for the first half of calendar year 2027 in the coming months".

Naturally, these companies and others will be looking to service the big AI companies and data centres first, before they free up anything for consumers because that's where the big bucks come from. So we're in for a few rough years of shortages and high prices everywhere for consumers.

Looks like I'll be holding onto my PC, Steam Deck and Legion Go for years to come.