SanDisk on Wednesday announced the Optimus GX Pro 850P, a Sony-licensed NVMe SSD designed specifically for expanding PS5 storage. The 8TB version is priced at $3,699.99 on SanDisk’s website (approximately ¥25,000 RMB), with an online sale price still reaching $2,959.99 — compared to the PS5 Pro’s retail price of $899 (with 2TB of built-in storage), which Sony raised in April due to memory price hikes. At the discounted price, this expansion drive costs more than three PS5 Pros combined, while actually providing an extra 6TB of storage; the 4TB version is priced at $1,499.99 after discount, also close to the total cost of two PS5 Pro consoles. The product’s specifications include a PCIe 4.0 interface in 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB capacity options.
Silicon Motion, the leading NAND controller chip maker, said through Senior Vice President Nelson Duann in a media interview this week that the current NAND shortage is „just the beginning“ and that 2027 will be worse: new fabs under construction won’t be operational until at least late 2027 or early 2028, meaning the shortage next year „will not improve, only worsen.“ He revealed the current NAND allocation priority: data centers first, smartphones second, PCs third, automotive fourth, with data centers potentially taking 70% to 80% of total supply — „the retail SSD market has virtually disappeared.“ Sony said in a recent earnings call that it has already locked in prices via agreements for most of its required memory in 2026; the implication is that if Sandisk’s pricing reflects the latest industry conditions, further price increases for game consoles are to be expected.