Sony almost discontinued the memory card business

“Due to the global shortage of semiconductors (memory) and other factors, supply is not expected to meet the demand for CFexpress and SD memory cards in the near future. Therefore, we have decided to temporarily stop accepting orders from March 27,” Sony announced on its homepage over the weekend. “Returning to business depends on the supply chain situation and will have separate information on the website.”

According to Sony, the move affects all CFexpress Type A memory cards (240 GB, 480 GB, 960 GB and 1,920 GB), CFexpress Type B (480 GB and 240 GB) and SD cards (Touch branded 256 GB, 128 GB and 64 GB as well as all lower-end models). Currently, Sony only sells two CFexpress Type B 960GB models and the SF-UZ SD card line, but the quantity is “not much”.

Theo Petapixeldiscontinuing the memory card business will cause certain difficulties for the high-quality photography and storage community. The company’s memory card products are popular, although the prices are often higher than other competitors with the same specifications.

Sony’s lack of memory chips to produce memory cards takes place in the context of the explosion of data centers. Since 2025, electronics hardware manufacturers and consumers have been struggling with “memory winter”, when RAM and SSDs are collected by data centers to serve the race for AI, causing the price of these components in the consumer market to increase many times over.

SD and CFexpress cards are specialized data storage devices for cameras, camcorders and video recording devices. SD (Secure Digital) is popular for common needs, 4K movie recording, while CFexpress provides super high speed (Type A, B, C) for 8K/RAW movie recording and high-speed continuous photography. According to Tech Insightswhen a large company like Sony decides to temporarily stop producing memory cards, the effect could spread to other brands.

Previously, experts warned that devices with memory chips would increase in price in the near future due to scarce supply. “If the device uses memory, the cost may increase further,” p BBC quoted Steve Mason, General Director of computer manufacturing company CyberPowerPC, as saying.

In a statement shared in January, CyberPowerPC said it was receiving memory quotes that were 500% higher than a few months earlier. According to Mason, there will come a time when component costs increase and force manufacturers and users to “make pricing decisions.”