It is really difficult for newcomers to capture a sizeable share of the solid-state drive market apart from the renowned brands and this is why Kingston and Adata have led retail SSD shipments for years. But Gigabyte became one of the Top 10 retail SSD suppliers after just a few years on the market. 

SSD shipments through global distribution channels reached 127 million units in 2021, up 11% over years despite shortages of controllers and power management ICs. Almost 42% of these shipped drives belong to companies that make their 3D NAND memory (Kioxia, Micron, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Western Digital). The remaining 58% encompasses companies focused on SSD assembly.  

Brand strength really matters in retail and thus, Kingston, Adata, Kimtigo, Lexar, and Transcend have been in the list of Top 10 makers of SSDs sold in retail or inside custom-built PCs for years. But Kingston’s share declined to 26% in 2021 as there were many players addressing segments that Kingston has addressed. The other top 3 makers strengthened their positions. Lexar has got nothing to do with Micron and presently sits at No. 4 with a 6% share. Netac on the other hand sits just a little below Lexar. 

After a few years in the game, Gigabyte secured the No. 9 place with a 3% market share. Colorful, like Kimtigo, is oriented toward China and is higher with a share of 4%. Finally, Power is yet another new Top 10 entrant with a share of 4%. 

SSDs have become quite easy to produce and so there are hundreds of companies that supply solid-state drives today moreover the market is also expanding. With the other names available, the market has become hugely competitive as everyone is trying to offer the best price, highest quality, and highest performance. Companies producing 3D NAND memory have a benefit over pure-play SSD houses as they have got their own chips and know very well how to behave. They know how they can let the drives perform in a great way using their memory. 

Though it seems difficult to compete against makers of 3D NAND in terms of price, some specialists have produced high-speed drives. Companies such as Corsair, G.Skill, Patriot, Sabrent, and TeamGroup are not in the Top 10 list of the largest retail SSD makers by unit shipments. But they still render services to their customer base that asks for two things only and these are – performance and quality.