Monday, March 2nd 2026
Phison Seeks Customer Prepayments as NAND Flash Prices Surge 500% Over Six Months
As NAND Flash pricing has skyrocketed, reaching nearly a 500% increase over the past six months, Phison has reportedly started requiring some customers to make prepayments to control the supply. This means that customers who haven't even started a Phison order will need to send funds as a form of credit to purchase a set amount of Phison controllers, SSDs, or any other storage products. According to a notice to its customers, Phison has stated that the rapid increase in NAND Flash demand has driven various parts of the storage supply chain to seek alternative payment methods, with a focus on quicker settlements. This means customers must either accept faster contract settlements or use other forms of payment like prepayment credits.
Phison is a company primarily focused on making SSD controllers, which are manufactured at TSMC, Samsung, or other fabs as logic devices, not NAND Flash. The company's latest E28 controller is produced on TSMC's 6 nm node, a mature class of semiconductor nodes. This suggests that Phison's supply chain is largely intact. However, if Phison is arranging NAND Flash purchases on behalf of customers, that could explain why faster settlements are requested. Specific arrangements likely vary by customer and should be confirmed on a case-by-case basis. There might be situations where Phison provides SSD makers with blueprints for SSDs and handles part of the design and supply chain logistics within the company, making the situation more understandable. In such cases, Phison would need to secure a fast contract settlement to ensure the SSD maker gets the best possible price for the NAND Flash that ultimately pairs with a Phison controller. The full statement follows.
Source:
DigiTimes
Phison is a company primarily focused on making SSD controllers, which are manufactured at TSMC, Samsung, or other fabs as logic devices, not NAND Flash. The company's latest E28 controller is produced on TSMC's 6 nm node, a mature class of semiconductor nodes. This suggests that Phison's supply chain is largely intact. However, if Phison is arranging NAND Flash purchases on behalf of customers, that could explain why faster settlements are requested. Specific arrangements likely vary by customer and should be confirmed on a case-by-case basis. There might be situations where Phison provides SSD makers with blueprints for SSDs and handles part of the design and supply chain logistics within the company, making the situation more understandable. In such cases, Phison would need to secure a fast contract settlement to ensure the SSD maker gets the best possible price for the NAND Flash that ultimately pairs with a Phison controller. The full statement follows.
Camille Chen from PhisonDear Valued Customer,
We sincerely appreciate your continued support and partnership. Due to rapid changes from AI infrastructure brings a significant increase in NAND demand, our key suppliers have recently adjusted their payment requirements as advance payment or shorten payment.
Phison has been extending financial support for your orders over the past period, as part of our efforts to secure capacity and ensure uninterrupted supply for your needs.
In order to maintain a stable supply chain and ensure uninterrupted service for you, we must align with these new conditions and kindly request prepayment or earlier payment arrangements for upcoming orders.
This adjustment will allow us to secure materials more efficiently and strengthen our operational flexibility, ultimately enabling us to serve you better.
We understand that any change may require internal coordination, and we are committed to assisting you throughout this transition.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or need further clarification.
Warm regards,
Phison Electronics Corporation
Camille Chen
Finance Division, Director
18 Comments on Phison Seeks Customer Prepayments as NAND Flash Prices Surge 500% Over Six Months
Because having YOUR data in YOUR own hands, must be prevented!
Instead use a cloud service and lose all your stuff if something goes wrong with your account or your payment.
The FUTURE is now!
Google says, hey we've got this great new free service. Give us all you photos / videos by using Google Photos and we'll give you free unlimited storage, it doesn't get better than that,....Right!?! Then some years later, your Google storage is full, want to buy some more storage for a low monthly fee???
www.techpowerup.com/345260/hdd-prices-increase-by-an-average-of-46-over-the-past-four-months
SSD prices have more than tripled, HDD prices doubled, all thanks to AI tech bros buying up supply that hasn't been made yet, for servers that can't be used.
Also, I wasn't looking at something like 16+ TB drives.
then they expect their customers to pay now to get something later?
that is going to put lots of hurt on the smaller companies that aren't used to this
This on the other hand seems to suggest payment 90 days in advance, at a minimum.
However, as lead times for everything seems to be dragging out, I wouldn't be surprised if three months is a reasonable timeline from order to shipping as things stand.
That was two years ago. Since then we have seen zero progress, even from companies that published clear timelines, prices only went sideways, for them now to shoot up, with no relief in sight in the foreseeable future. Larger capacity drives? We’re getting articles on how low can we go on storage and memory, tightening the belt in a market where flesh and blood consumer is seen as something unwanted.