Sony suspends almost all SD card sales due to global memory shortage

It seems like every day we see a new product falling victim to the crippling memory shortage that is currently ongoing. First, desktop RAM went extinct; then CPUs from both Intel and AMD went up in price. Graphics cards have long been difficult to hunt down, and even storage drives are slowly but surely going up in price. Sony has now announced that the global memory shortage has gotten to the point that it is no longer taking orders for its SD cards.

The move comes right off the back of Sony increasing the price of its PS5 consoles. The new direction means Sony will no longer accept orders for almost all SD card models, including CFExpress cards. There are some low-end cards still in production, but I wouldn't bet on finding a brand-new Sony SD card on market shelves any time soon.

"Thank you for your continued patronage of Sony products.

Due to the global shortage of semiconductors (memory) and other factors, it is anticipated that supply will not be able to meet demand for CFExpress memory cards and SD memory cards for the foreseeable future. Therefore, we have decided to temporarily suspend the acceptance of orders from our authorized dealers and from customers at the Sony Store from March 27, 2026 onwards.

Regarding the resumption of order acceptance, we will consider it while monitoring the supply situation and will announce it separately on the product information page."

- Sony's announcement

Sony, in the official statement published on its Japanese website, clearly places the blame on the global semiconductor shortage. They state that the suspension is supposed to be "temporary," but it's unlikely the SD cards will be back in production for the foreseeable future. SD cards are probably the lowest-risk product that they could cut from production without seriously impacting their profits. The company is clearly allocating its efforts and memory resources to more lucrative products.

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The card models that fall under suspension include the CFExpress Type-A, Type-B, and SD cards. All capacities of the aforementioned models are affected by this suspension, ranging from 1920 GB Type-A cards down to the lower-end V30 64 GB SD cards.

Sony is not the first tech giant to feel the pressure of the global memory shortage. Western Digital has already stated that its storage capacity for 2026 is sold out. By the looks of it, more companies will follow Sony's lead in the near future unless a rapid solution to the memory shortage is found.