Target employee documents steep SSD and memory price hikes amid AI-driven demand

On January 28, a Reddit user going by Scarfeezy posted images that appear to show them using a phone and an app to raise prices on SSDs and other memory-related PC parts at a Target store; the user told Kotaku they work at a Target in Pennsylvania. The images shared to Reddit show dramatic price jumps: a SanDisk 2TB external SSD rising from $200 to $520, a Western Digital 1TB Xbox expansion card jumping from $150 to $390, and a Nintendo-branded microSD card leaping from about $20 to $67.

Scarfeezy also shared an image of a Western Digital PS5 SSD that they say increased from $150 to $564. Kotaku spoke to Scarfeezy, who confirmed their employment at a Pennsylvania Target but declined to reveal more about their identity. Scarfeezy said they raised prices on other SD cards as directed by Target and added, "I’m pissed for everyone looking to upgrade/first-time purchasers.

I’m also incredibly lucky to have built my PC before all this happened. Now I’m hoping and praying nothing bad happens to my PC." Kotaku checked Target’s website and found some of the higher prices already live online, and also spotted evidence of an SD card being listed at two different prices, likely due to a back-end snafu.

The story adds to reporting that PC memory and components have become more expensive as AI hyperscalers and tech giants buy parts to build datacenters.

target employee price hike, scarfeezy reddit post, target price increases, sandisk 2tb external ssd, western digital 1tb xbox expansion, nintendo microsd card, western digital ps5 ssd, ssd price hikes, sd card price jump, ai hyperscalers demand, datacenter component demand, intel supplying ai hyperscalers, pc memory price increases, ram and gpu prices, prebuilt pc price increases, hp dell asus prebuilt pcs, target website prices, target subreddit posts, kotaku interview scarfeezy, back-end pricing snafu, console ssd price hikes, first-time purchasers affected