Black Friday Won't Save You This Year. The SSD Deals You're Waiting For Aren't Coming.
Updated: 6 hours ago
Every November, the playbook is the same. Wait for Black Friday. Snag a 1 TB NVMe SSD for $50. Grab a RAM kit for $70. Build cheap, play everything. It worked in 2023. It worked in 2024. In 2025, the cracks started showing. In 2026, the playbook is dead.
Amazon's Black Friday event runs November 20 to December 1 this year. By the time it starts, you will have already needed the storage. GTA 6 launched on PS5 on November 19 — one day before the sale — at 212 GB. That is not a leaked estimate. The preload went live on November 10 and players watched the progress bar crawl across a file that occupies a full third of the PS5's usable storage. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake hit Switch 2 on November 5 at 24.5 GB. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 has been live since October 23 at 115 GB on PC and 84.9 GB on Switch 2. World of Warcraft: Forever landed November 4 with an installation footprint around 128 GB. That is roughly 480 GB of must-play games in a single month — and the biggest one needs nearly a third of your console all by itself.
Meanwhile, the 1 TB Gen4 NVMe SSD that cost $50 on Black Friday 2024 now averages $144 at retail. Contract prices for NAND flash are up 303 percent year-over-year. Silicon Motion's senior VP told Tom's Hardware at Computex 2026 that the direct-to-consumer SSD market has "nearly disappeared." The deals you are waiting for are not coming — and the games that need the storage are already here.
Why This Black Friday Is Different
The supply chain broke in a new way. Previous NAND shortages raised prices but kept the retail channel intact. You paid more, but the drives were still on the shelf. In 2026, the shelf itself is emptying. OEMs like Dell, HP, and Asus are buying NAND directly from manufacturers at volumes that leave little for retail SSD brands. Silicon Motion confirmed that controllers that once went into retail drives now go to PC manufacturers who cannot source enough NAND through normal channels. Fewer controllers reaching retail means fewer drives reaching Amazon, Newegg, and Best Buy.
AI ate the surplus. Data centers building and expanding AI training clusters need massive amounts of high-speed storage. That demand did not exist at this scale three years ago. NAND manufacturers are prioritizing enterprise contracts — which pay higher margins and buy in larger volumes — over consumer retail. Kingston reported a 246 percent increase in NAND wafer contract prices. Phison's CEO said every major NAND manufacturer is "sold out" for 2026 and that supply will not recover for four years.
The game sizes are not slowing down. GTA 6 at 212 GB is not an outlier — it is the new normal for AAA titles pushing open-world fidelity, high-resolution textures, and uncompressed audio. For context: GTA 6 is exactly double the size of Red Dead Redemption 2. It is larger than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 (115 GB on PC) and WoW: Forever (128 GB) combined. The PS5 ships with about 667 GB of usable storage, so one game now occupies 31.8 percent of the entire console. Players with six to eight titles installed discovered during preload that GTA 6 simply would not download without deleting something first. A 1 TB SSD that once held 15 to 20 games now holds four or five. You need more storage than ever, at the worst possible time to buy it.
Think of It Like a Grocery Store Before a Hurricane
You know the storm is coming — everyone does. So everyone shows up at the same store at the same time. The shelves are not bare because the supply chain collapsed. They are bare because the biggest buyers — the restaurant chains, the hotels, the hospitals — got there first and bought in bulk. By the time you walk in with your shopping list, the good stuff is gone. What is left costs twice as much and might not be exactly what you wanted.
That is the SSD market in November 2026. The "hurricane" is the combined demand from AI data centers, OEM production cycles, and the biggest month in gaming releases in recent memory. The "grocery store" is the retail channel. And you — the PC builder, the PS5 owner, the Switch 2 gamer — are walking in after the bulk buyers already cleared the shelves. The items that remain are real, but the prices reflect scarcity, not competition.
Black Friday Storage Prices: Then vs. Now
This table tracks how storage pricing has shifted across three consecutive Black Friday seasons. The 2026 column reflects current retail averages and TrendForce contract data — not confirmed sale prices, because most retailers have not announced Black Friday deals yet.
Category | Black Friday 2024 | Black Friday 2025 | Black Friday 2026 (Expected) | Year-over-Year Change |
1 TB Gen4 NVMe SSD | $45–55 (multiple brands hit all-time lows) | $60–80 (deals were thinner, stock moved fast) | $110–145 (contract prices up 303% YoY; 1 TB Gen4 averages $144 retail) | Roughly 2–3× the price of two years ago. Sub-$100 deals are functionally extinct. |
2 TB Gen4 NVMe SSD | $85–100 (the sweet spot for PS5 and PC gamers) | $120–160 (still findable but required deal-hunting) | $220–300 (higher-capacity drives hit hardest by NAND wafer shortage) | The old "sweet spot" now costs what a 4 TB drive did in 2024. |
DDR5-5600 32 GB Kit | $70–85 (DDR5 had just reached price parity with DDR4) | $90–115 (DRAM shortage beginning to bite) | $120–160 (DRAM pricing follows the same supply crunch as NAND) | Still cheaper per-GB than SSD storage, but no longer the impulse buy it was. |
microSD / SD Express Cards | Minimal presence — microSD Express barely existed at retail | Early adopters only — Switch 2 not yet launched | First real demand year — Switch 2 library growing, but few Express options at retail | New category. Not enough supply history to compare, which means no deep discounts. |
The pattern is clear: every category is up, the largest-capacity drives are hit hardest, and entirely new categories like microSD Express have no pricing history to discount from. "Waiting for a deal" now means waiting for a price that was full retail 18 months ago.
The November 2026 Game Calendar vs. Your Available Storage
PS5: GTA 6 Changes the Math
GTA 6 preloads went live on November 10 and the confirmed download is 212 GB — Rockstar says to have "up to 212 GB of available space" ready. The PS5 has roughly 667 GB of usable internal storage. After system files and a typical library of six to eight games, most players have 250 to 400 GB free. A typical PS5 owner had to delete two or three games just to start the preload. And this is the base install — GTA Online content updates will push the footprint higher over time, just as GTA V grew from 65 GB to over 120 GB across its lifecycle.
The addlink A93 2 TB NVMe SSD solves this permanently. It reads at 7,400 MB/s on the Gen4 interface — 34 percent above Sony's 5,500 MB/s recommendation — and comes with a PS5-compatible heatsink that fits the expansion bay's 11.25 mm height limit. At 2 TB, it adds roughly 1.8 TB of usable expansion space: enough for GTA 6 (212 GB), its future online updates, and your full existing library without deleting a single title. Install the drive, set it as your default install location under Settings > Storage, and stop managing PS5 storage permanently.
Switch 2: The Library Is Growing Faster Than the Internal Drive
The Switch 2 launched with 256 GB of internal storage — four times the original Switch, but game sizes have grown faster. The Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake is 24.5 GB. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on Switch 2 is 84.9 GB. Stellar Blade and Metaphor: ReFantazio are both substantial ports. Five or six AAA titles and the internal drive is full.
Standard microSD cards work but bottleneck at 100 to 160 MB/s. The addlink Turbo Play microSD Express card runs at 880 MB/s read and 750 MB/s write over PCIe Gen3 NVMe — a 5× to 8× speed advantage. The Switch 2 supports SD Express 7.1, so the hardware is ready for it. Available in 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB capacities, the Turbo Play lets you load Switch 2 games at speeds closer to the internal drive than to a traditional SD card. If you are building a Switch 2 library through the holidays, this is the card that keeps load times from punishing you.
PC: The Everything Platform Needs Everything
PC gamers face the widest spread of storage demands. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 needs 115 GB minimum — before Warzone updates. WoW: Forever is around 128 GB. The eventual GTA 6 PC port (not yet confirmed but widely expected in 2027) will likely exceed the PS5 version. A single 1 TB NVMe SSD is no longer enough for a serious gaming library. A 2 TB drive like the addlink A93 is the new baseline, and pairing it with a 32 GB DDR5-5600 kit from addlink ensures the rest of the system does not bottleneck what the SSD delivers.
Your Black Friday 2026 Storage Strategy
Step 1 — Audit Before You Shop
Before the Amazon event starts on November 20, check what you actually have. On PS5, go to Settings > Storage to see free space. On PC, open Disk Management. On Switch 2, check System Settings > Data Management. Write down the number. Then add up the games you plan to install through January — GTA 6 alone is 212 GB on PS5, plus any holiday gifts, Game Pass additions, and online updates. If the total exceeds your free space, you need a drive. Knowing the exact gap prevents both under-buying (a 500 GB drive that fills up by January) and over-buying (a 4 TB drive when 2 TB covers you for two years).
Step 2 — Set a Price Alert Now, Not on November 20
By the time Black Friday deals go live, the best units sell out in hours — sometimes minutes. Use CamelCamelCamel or Keepa to set price alerts on the specific drives you want. For PS5, target a 2 TB Gen4 NVMe with a heatsink (like the addlink A93). For Switch 2, target a microSD Express card at 256 GB or higher (like the addlink Turbo Play). For PC, target a 2 TB Gen4 NVMe plus a DDR5-5600 32 GB kit if you are also upgrading RAM. Set the alert at 10 to 15 percent below current retail — that is a realistic Black Friday discount in 2026. Do not set it at 2024 prices. That alert will never fire.
Step 3 — Buy Before the Hike, Not During the "Sale"
This is counterintuitive but important. TrendForce forecasts another 15 to 20 percent quarter-over-quarter price increase in Q4 2026. That means a drive listed at $130 in early November could be $150 by mid-December. Some Black Friday "deals" will simply be current prices rebranded as limited-time offers. If you find a drive at or near today's price during the sale window, that is the deal. Do not wait for a deeper cut that the supply chain cannot support.
Step 4 — Beware the Fake Drive Trap
When prices spike, counterfeit SSDs flood the market. Silicon Motion specifically flagged this at Computex 2026 — fake drives that pass basic benchmark tests but use inferior flash that degrades rapidly. Warning signs: a price dramatically below market average, a brand name you cannot verify with a manufacturer website, and Amazon listings with fewer than 50 reviews. After purchase, verify with CrystalDiskInfo (check the controller model and NAND type) and run a sustained write test to confirm the drive holds its rated speed. Buying from established brands — including addlink, Samsung, Western Digital, and Crucial — is the simplest defense.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Will there be ANY good SSD deals on Black Friday 2026?
There will be deals — just not the kind you remember. In 2024, multiple 1 TB Gen4 NVMe drives dropped below $50 during Black Friday week. In 2026, a "deal" means a 1 TB drive at $110 instead of $144. The floor has moved permanently. Silicon Motion confirmed at Computex 2026 that the direct-to-consumer SSD market has "nearly disappeared" because OEMs are absorbing the available NAND supply. There will be fewer drives listed, fewer units per listing, and prices that would have been considered full retail two years ago. If you see a 2 TB Gen4 drive below $200 during Amazon's November 20 to December 1 event, that is a genuine deal by 2026 standards — do not wait for something better.
2. Should I buy an SSD now or wait until Black Friday?
If you already needed storage for GTA 6 — the preload went live November 10 at 212 GB — you should not be waiting for Black Friday. The game is here, the drive needs to be installed and formatted, and every day without expansion storage is a day spent deleting games to make room. For everything else, waiting until the Amazon Black Friday event starting November 20 is reasonable, but set realistic expectations. TrendForce forecasts another 15 to 20 percent price increase quarter-over-quarter in Q4, which means drives listed at $130 in early November could be $150 by December. Black Friday "deals" in 2026 may simply be current prices before the next hike. The window between now and the end of November is likely the cheapest storage will be for the next 12 to 18 months.
3. GTA 6 is 210 GB. Do I really need a separate SSD just for one game?
On PS5, you almost certainly do. The console ships with about 667 GB of usable storage. GTA 6 takes 212 GB — nearly a third of that — and Rockstar's track record suggests it will grow. GTA V launched at 65 GB and eventually exceeded 120 GB with online content updates. If GTA 6 follows a similar trajectory, it could reach 300 to 350 GB within two to three years. Add Call of Duty (another 100+ GB), a sports title, and a few indie games, and a single internal drive is a revolving door of deletions. A 2 TB expansion SSD like the addlink A93 gives you roughly 1.8 TB of usable space on top of the internal drive — enough for GTA 6 at its eventual peak size, your full library, and two years of future releases. The A93 runs at 7,400 MB/s and comes with a PS5-compatible heatsink, so install it once and stop managing storage.
4. What about Switch 2 storage? Do I need a microSD Express card?
The Switch 2 ships with 256 GB of internal storage, which sounds generous until you look at the library. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake is 24.5 GB. Stellar Blade on Switch 2 and Metaphor: ReFantazio are both sizable ports. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on Switch 2 is listed at 84.9 GB on the eShop. A handful of AAA titles and you are out of space. Standard microSD cards work, but they bottleneck at around 100 to 160 MB/s — fine for storing games, painfully slow for loading them. A microSD Express card like the addlink Turbo Play runs at 880 MB/s read and 750 MB/s write over PCIe Gen3 NVMe. That is not a marginal improvement; it is a generational leap. The Switch 2 supports SD Express 7.1, so the hardware is ready — you just need the right card.
5. Why are SSD prices so high? When will they come back down?
Three forces converged. First, AI data centers are consuming unprecedented amounts of NAND flash for training and inference storage, pulling supply away from consumer products. Second, NAND manufacturers cut production during the 2023 to 2024 downturn, and new fabrication capacity takes 18 to 24 months to come online. Third, the shift to higher-layer 3D NAND (200+ layers) has lower initial yields, temporarily reducing output per wafer. Kingston reported a 246 percent increase in NAND wafer contract prices. Phison's CEO said every major NAND manufacturer is "sold out" for 2026 and that supply will not catch up with demand for four years. TrendForce does not forecast meaningful price relief until late 2027 at the earliest, and some analysts point to 2028. The era of cheap SSDs — the $45 1 TB drives that showed up every Black Friday — is over for the foreseeable future.
The Verdict
The era of waiting for Black Friday to buy cheap storage is over — at least for now. Prices are up, supply is constrained, and the games demanding that storage are landing before the sale even starts. Here is what to do depending on where you are.
PS5 gamer who just preloaded GTA 6 → The 212 GB preload is already on your console — or it should be. If you deleted games to make room, you know the problem. The addlink A93 2 TB NVMe reads at 7,400 MB/s, includes a PS5-compatible heatsink, and gives you roughly 1.8 TB of expansion space: enough for GTA 6, the games you had to delete, and two years of future releases including GTA Online updates that will push the footprint even higher. Install it before Black Friday and use the sale window to buy your next game, not to fix a storage crisis under pressure.
Switch 2 owner building a holiday library → Internal storage will not survive the November release wave. Zelda, Modern Warfare 4 on Switch 2 (84.9 GB), and whatever holiday gifts come your way will fill 256 GB fast. The addlink Turbo Play microSD Express card at 512 GB or 1 TB gives you 880 MB/s read speeds over PCIe Gen3 — fast enough to load games at near-internal speeds instead of the 100 MB/s crawl of a standard microSD. Get the card before the library outgrows the console.
PC builder planning a holiday upgrade → Pair the addlink A93 2 TB NVMe SSD with an addlink DDR5-5600 32 GB RAM kit. The SSD handles the game library — 2 TB at 7,400 MB/s means Modern Warfare 4, WoW: Forever, and the eventual GTA 6 PC port all live on one drive with room to spare. The DDR5-5600 kit ensures the rest of the platform keeps up. If you see both at or near current prices during Amazon's November 20 to December 1 window, that is the deal. Buy the pair, build the machine, and skip the regret of watching prices climb another 15 to 20 percent in Q1 2027.
Amazon: https://shorturl.at/dScLx
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