Storage shortage alert from Ascent.co.nz

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kiwifidget

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#324046 19-Feb-2026 16:30

I just received this email from Ascent, who are alerting it's customers to an expected supply shortage of hard drives in 2026.

We are reaching out to provide a critical update regarding the global storage market. If you have been planning to buy or upgrade your workstation, server, or NAS, now is the time to act.

The storage industry is currently facing unprecedented supply chain constraints. Major manufacturers, including Western Digital and Seagate, have reported that their entire production capacity for 2026 is already committed and sold out. This massive gap between supply and demand is driving rapid price increases and a significant reduction in local availability here in New Zealand.

If you are thinking of buying storage now or in the near future, we recommend not waiting much longer. Below are some of our most popular and reliable drives which are still available, but please be aware that stock levels are changing hourly.

Why the Urgency?

Production Caps: Factory lead times have extended into 2027 for many high-capacity enterprise lines.
Rising Costs: Component shortages are forcing price adjustments across the board.
Local Availability: Once current NZ stock is depleted, replacement shipments are expected to arrive at significantly higher price points.

We recommend reviewing your storage requirements for the coming year and securing your hardware while stocks are still available.

Browse All Storage at ascent.co.nz

Home & Small Business NAS

Western Digital Red Plus WD80EFPX NAS Internal Hard Drive, 8TB, 3.5", SATA, CMR

Seagate IronWolf ST4000VN006 NAS Internal Hard Drive, 4TB, 3.5", SATA, CMR

Gaming & Power Users

Samsung 990 Pro Internal SSD, 2TB, M.2 2280, PCIe Gen 4.0 x4

Western Digital WD_BLACK WD2003FZEX Gaming Internal Hard Drive, 2TB, 3.5", SATA

Enterprise Class Reliability

Western Digital Ultrastar DC HC320 HUS728T8TALE6L4 Internal Hard Drive, 8TB, 3.5", SATA

Seagate Exos Enterprise 7E10 ST8000NM017B Internal Hard Drive, 8TB, 3.5", SATA

Budget-Friendly SATA SSD

Adata Ultimate SU630 Internal SSD, 480GB, 2.5", SATA, Black

Samsung 870 Evo Internal SSD, 1TB, 2.5", SATA, Black

24/7 Surveillance Systems

Seagate SkyHawk ST4000VX016 Surveillance Internal Hard Drive, 4TB, 3.5", SATA, CMR

Western Digital Purple WD64PURZ Surveillance Internal Hard Drive, 6TB, 3.5", SATA, CMR

High-Speed NVMe Performance

Western Digital WD_BLACK SN8100 NVMe Internal SSD, 1TB, M.2 2280, PCIe Gen 5.0 x4

Crucial T705 Internal SSD, 2TB, M.2 2280, PCIe Gen 5.0 x4, Heatsink

Best regards
The Ascent Technology Team

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kiwifidget

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#3463137 19-Feb-2026 16:31

Sorry, that copy and paste did not go as planned.

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SirHumphreyAppleby

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#3463141 19-Feb-2026 16:47

It's been almost two years since my last e-mail from Ascent Marketing, so I guess that's an acceptable level of disturbance.

I'm not paying too much attention to all the noise. The market will dictate what I end up paying when I need to purchase. Until then, I'm not going to contribute to demand and artificially raise prices.

wellygary

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#3463144 19-Feb-2026 17:02

Looks like storage is going to suffer the same as memory...

Anyone on the PC gaming / hobby space is going to go through the ringer in the next year or two.. until things either scale up production or the AI building boom becomes a bust

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/hdds/western-digital-is-already-sold-out-of-hard-drives-for-all-of-2026-chief-says-some-long-term-agreements-for-2027-and-2028-already-in-place

boosacnoodle

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#3463153 19-Feb-2026 17:25

The irony of the email having (some) traits of being written by AI, itself arguably the cause of the supply chain shortage.

mattwnz

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#3463177 19-Feb-2026 20:10

boosacnoodle:

The irony of the email having (some) traits of being written by AI, itself arguably the cause of the supply chain shortage.

I am finding many companies are now using AI to write replies to customers and it's so obvious to tell that they are using AI.

MurrayM

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#3463242 20-Feb-2026 08:49

mattwnz:

boosacnoodle:

The irony of the email having (some) traits of being written by AI, itself arguably the cause of the supply chain shortage.

I am finding many companies are now using AI to write replies to customers and it's so obvious to tell that they are using AI.

It is interesting that you mention this. As a fellow human who prioritises clear, structured, and grammatically precise communication, I find that many individuals frequently mistake my writing style for an automated response. I believe this is due to my commitment to efficiency and objective clarity. Rest assured, I am processing this conversation with 100% organic cognitive function!

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Behodar

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#3463811 23-Feb-2026 17:45

I was having a think earlier. The software on my NAS was written with the assumption that drive prices would either reduce over time or hold steady: when a drive fails, it wants you to replace it with one the same size or larger. But if drive prices take off as predicted, then many users may end up in the situation where they can't afford to replace a drive like-for-like and will need to downsize.

I've written to Synology about it but I have no idea how practical it is for them to release an update to resolve this. Obviously you'd need to delete any non-critical data to get it all down to size, but at the moment the NAS software won't let you shrink the storage pool.

I'd suggest that other NAS users write to their vendors if they have the same limitation.

kiwifidget

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#3463815 23-Feb-2026 17:58

Behodar:

I was having a think earlier. The software on my NAS was written with the assumption that drive prices would either reduce over time or hold steady: when a drive fails, it wants you to replace it with one the same size or larger. But if drive prices take off as predicted, then many users may end up in the situation where they can't afford to replace a drive like-for-like and will need to downsize.

Good point.

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SirHumphreyAppleby

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#3463816 23-Feb-2026 18:10

Behodar:

I was having a think earlier. The software on my NAS was written with the assumption that drive prices would either reduce over time or hold steady: when a drive fails, it wants you to replace it with one the same size or larger. But if drive prices take off as predicted, then many users may end up in the situation where they can't afford to replace a drive like-for-like and will need to downsize.

I don't think this is driven by the assumption that prices would reduce or hold steady. NAS vendors don't write the code, they just repurpose existing OS functionality give it a fancy name.

The truth is, it's just very difficult to reduce the size of an array. It requires understanding the file system, which is distinctly separate from the RAID layer. Even ZFS, which blurs that line, doesn't offer that functionality.

autechre

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#3464783 25-Feb-2026 15:43

Behodar:

when a drive fails, it wants you to replace it with one the same size or larger.

pretty sure thats how RAID works the world over. its not NAS specific. you need the same size or larger drive in order to rebuild the array in the event of a failure.

the only way to downsize the storage pool is to copy all your data off, rebuild the array with the smaller disks and copy the data back on (hoping that it will all fit).