Solidigm Stops Consumer SSD Business, Operations Ended Last Year

[AleksandarK]

According to ITHome, Solidigm has officially ended production of its P44 Pro and P41 Plus solid-state drives, marking its complete withdrawal from the consumer SSD market. These were the only consumer SSDs released under the Solidigm brand since the company's formation. The company has also removed all consumer drive listings from its website, which now focuses entirely on data center and enterprise storage solutions. The decision follows earlier developments in October 2023, when Solidigm reportedly dissolved its consumer SSD division and laid off staff working on consumer drives, Tom's Hardware learned from an unnamed source familiar with the matter. This has been reportedly done to stop consumer SSD development and re-route resources to enterprise SSD, which drives more revenue.

The shutdown reportedly occurred abruptly, just before the planned launch of a new consumer SSD that had already been distributed to reviewers. Consumer SSD space has been recording a lot of uncertainty recently, as larger brands have been able to launch consumer SSDs while enjoying profits from the enterprise buildout, and AI expansion is requiring massive storage units. These larger brands can distill some of their products into consumer-focused sections without much impact on margins, as the enterprise is willing to pay top Dollar for SSDs. Sadly, Solidgm has not chosen that path and is instead going all-in on the enterprise segment. Sadly, fewer SSD makers in the consumer space means less competition, so we hope that this trend doesn't continue.



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[TheLostSwede]

Sort of make sense though, considering Solidigm is part of SK hynix, which not only does consumer SSDs under its own brand, but also Essencore/KLEVV.

 

[TristanX]

There won't any withdrawal from the consumer SSD market, but now client SSD will be released under original SK Hynix brand. Solidigm was artifical brand, and thankfully they dropped it. Now they release gen5 ssd:

SK하이닉스 Platinum P51, 퀘이사존 입수

SK하이닉스 P51 드디어 나온다! 커피 한잔하며 오후 업무 준비에 들어가려고 하는데, 한통의 전화가 …

quasarzone.com

 

[TheLostSwede]

There won't any withdrawal from the consumer SSD market, but now client SSD will be released under original SK Hynix brand. Solidigm was artifical brand, and thankfully they dropped it. Now they release gen5 ssd:

SK하이닉스 Platinum P51, 퀘이사존 입수

SK하이닉스 P51 드디어 나온다! 커피 한잔하며 오후 업무 준비에 들어가려고 하는데, 한통의 전화가 …

quasarzone.com

Not quite, Solidigm existed because SK hynix bought Intel's SSD business unit and weren't allowed to merge it with its normal SSD business at the time. That seems to have stopped being the case now.

 

[Stephen.]

I was looking forward for their gen 5 version of the SK Hynix Platinum P51, oh well.

I guess this is why they added the SK Hynix Platinum P41 to the latest solidigm driver, maybe the drive will be changed to SK Hynix branding in the future!

 

[eldon_magi]

I was looking forward for their gen 5 version of the SK Hynix Platinum P51, oh well.

I guess this is why they added the SK Hynix Platinum P41 to the latest solidigm driver, maybe the drive will be changed to SK Hynix branding in the future!

Wow, i just ordered a SK Hynix Platinum P41 2TB (the same drive as the Solidigm P44 Pro) for my 8845HS Mini PC last week, and still waiting for it to arrive.
Primarily because according to YT reviews, It has good consistent performance, it's single-sided (a must in my case), and it runs very cool.

I'm familiar with the Solidigm software for enterprise gear, Well first i used intel's software to access some DC P3700 nvme drives, and now it's Solidigm Storage Tool or something...

So you're saying i'll be able to access the SK Hynix P41 using Solidigm's software? That would be great news. All i know is i checked and there has been no firmware updates for the P41 according to their webpage..

 

[Chaitanya]

They will be missed for their software and drivers which have become a rarity in consumer market these days.

 

[LabRat 891]

As long as SK Hynix and their other brands can offer similarly good products, I see no issue.

I did kinda like the peculiar "Solidigm" name; reminded me of "Cyberdyne"...

 

[chrcoluk]

Bit lame to remove all technical info from their site on products being brought by consumers, I remember when I got my DC P4600 Intel drive of course after Intel abandoned its SSD line, they had removed support documents, firmware links etc.

So they made the decision during the consumer boom when nand was reasonable price per TB. Makes you wonder what would happen if a manufacturer broke out of the cartel ranks and made a 50TB consumer drive or something, would the rest just leave the consumer market saying its not worth their time?

 

[Gunbound]

Wow, i just ordered a SK Hynix Platinum P41 2TB (the same drive as the Solidigm P44 Pro) for my 8845HS Mini PC last week, and still waiting for it to arrive.
Primarily because according to YT reviews, It has good consistent performance, it's single-sided (a must in my case), and it runs very cool.

I'm familiar with the Solidigm software for enterprise gear, Well first i used intel's software to access some DC P3700 nvme drives, and now it's Solidigm Storage Tool or something...

So you're saying i'll be able to access the SK Hynix P41 using Solidigm's software? That would be great news. All i know is i checked and there has been no firmware updates for the P41 according to their webpage..

Using the same one! It's great. I loved the intel fw tool at least the bootable one before the gui. I never used it the new software with the P41 though. Wonder if there's any benefit to it (yet)?

 

[bug]

Not quite, Solidigm existed because SK hynix bought Intel's SSD business unit and weren't allowed to merge it with its normal SSD business at the time. That seems to have stopped being the case now.

I never understood this kind of a deal: "it's yours, but you must keep it separate, but only for X years". Why? What does that achieve except short/medium term redundancy. Is it done to protect the workforce?

 

[Vincero]

I never understood this kind of a deal: "it's yours, but you must keep it separate, but only for X years". Why? What does that achieve except short/medium term redundancy. Is it done to protect the workforce?

I think the main reason was to preserve product lines / roadmaps and enterprise product agreements, etc.
After the handover from Intel, Intel derived products were still part of the products being sold by solidigm.
SK-H probably agreed to the sale to get access to some of them sweet sweet data center storage contracts

I guess there is no longer a business case that matters to keep the branding going so... That's the end of that.

I'll be honest I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner but also at how abrupt it seems to have ended.... Like they just brushed it off like they work up from a weird dream.

 

[mx500torid]

Who honors the warranty on the Sol drives now?

 

[windwhirl]

Sadly, fewer SSD makers in the consumer space means less competition, so we hope that this trend doesn't continue.

Hmm, maybe just me, but not that many to begin with? I only recall Kioxia, SK hynix, Samsung and maybe Western Digital and Seagate? Thinking about SSD makers down to making the NAND chips themselves, not just assemblers.

 

[eldon_magi]

Well now while waiting for my P41 to arrive, i just learned about the issues with write speed being cut in half. Read the Anandtech thread, and the reddit threads.
Sent a message to SK Hynix just incase.

I'll be returning the drive to amazon without even testing it, because i won't have this issue nagging in the back of my head, especially since it will be an OS drive.
Doing some browsing, the P51 is still actively being promoted on their asian sites or something..

Ordering from amazon, it wasn't in stock, and shipment tracking says it was sent by 'SK Hynix Europe'

Some browsing reveals they've set up shop in Minsk, Belarus.
This could be an issue, since Belarus actively engages in supplying russia with components under sanctions embargo, used to kill civilians in Ukraine, in the first land war in Europe since WW2.

 

[Stephen.]

Well now while waiting for my P41 to arrive, i just learned about the issues with write speed being cut in half. Read the Anandtech thread, and the reddit threads.
Sent a message to SK Hynix just incase.

I'll be returning the drive to amazon without even testing it, because i won't have this issue nagging in the back of my head, especially since it will be an OS drive.
Doing some browsing, the P51 is still actively being promoted on their asian sites or something..

Ordering from amazon, it wasn't in stock, and shipment tracking says it was sent by 'SK Hynix Europe'

Some browsing reveals they've set up shop in Minsk, Belarus.
This could be an issue, since Belarus actively engages in supplying russia with components under sanctions embargo, used to kill civilians in Ukraine, in the first land war in Europe since WW2.

Personally I have 2x Solidigm P44 Pro 2TB and for over a year I've used them and not run into such an issue.

The drivers are technically SK Hynix Platinum P41 but with a different firmware, so maybe that's why the Solidigm P44 don't run into that issue.

Also the addition I mentioned was in the driver, about the software I'm not sure what functionality is there for the SK Hynix Platinum P41.

 

[eldon_magi]

Personally I have 2x Solidigm P44 Pro 2TB and for over a year I've used them and not run into such an issue.

The drivers are technically SK Hynix Platinum P41 but with a different firmware, so maybe that's why the Solidigm P44 don't run into that issue.

Also the addition I mentioned was in the driver, about the software I'm not sure what functionality is there for the SK Hynix Platinum P41.

So these are windows drivers i presume. I'll be using in linux only. Been thinking if i should test the drive by first benchmarking it with kdrive (or whatever the linux equalent to crystaldiskmark was called), then write about 500GB of video files to it, and then benchmark again.

(edit: then do a nvme format using nvme-cli, which is supposed to be the same as secure erase, and benchmark again to verify)

Does anyone have better knowledge or ideas on how i should test it with a linux live USB, before i potentionally install an OS on it, or return it?

edit: 500GB because TPU database states SLC cache is approx. 320GB

 

[bug]

I think the main reason was to preserve product lines / roadmaps and enterprise product agreements, etc.
After the handover from Intel, Intel derived products were still part of the products being sold by solidigm.
SK-H probably agreed to the sale to get access to some of them sweet sweet data center storage contracts

I guess there is no longer a business case that matters to keep the branding going so... That's the end of that.

I'll be honest I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner but also at how abrupt it seems to have ended.... Like they just brushed it off like they work up from a weird dream.

I don't see how that would be the case. You buy a business, you inherit ongoing contracts anyway. As long as customers get their products, they don't care whether they come from a SK Hynix division or not.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Ok, it's clear why this is happening if you read the original press release from 2021.

In the second phase of the transaction, SK hynix will acquire from Intel the remaining assets in relation to its NAND business, including IP related to the manufacture and design of NAND flash wafers, R&D employees for NAND flash wafers, the Dalian facility workforce, and the other associated tangible / intangible assets. Closing of the second phase is expected to occur in or after March 2025 with the remaining payment of US $2 billion, which will complete the entire deal.

It seems like Intel has had some kind of involvement in Solidigm, which is set to end shortly.

SK hynix completes the First Phase of Intel NAND and SSD Business Acquisition

SK hynix has acquired Intel’s SSD business and Dalian NAND Flash Manufacturing Facility assets in China. The new entity will be branded “Solidigm”.

news.solidigm.com

 

[bug]

Ok, it's clear why this is happening if you read the original press release from 2021.

It seems like Intel has had some kind of involvement in Solidigm, which is set to end shortly.

SK hynix completes the First Phase of Intel NAND and SSD Business Acquisition

SK hynix has acquired Intel’s SSD business and Dalian NAND Flash Manufacturing Facility assets in China. The new entity will be branded “Solidigm”.

news.solidigm.com

So, just a sort of DMZ, to keep potential conflict at bay? That would make sense.

 

[TheLostSwede]

So, just a sort of DMZ, to keep potential conflict at bay? That would make sense.

Seems like something like that, yes, or at least until SK hynix paid Intel the full price for what they bought.
I guess it was to protect SK hynix as well, in case what Intel sold was a dud, then they had US$2 billion to withhold from Intel.

 

[hsew]

Who honors the warranty on the Sol drives now?

It’s not like they’re going defunct.

 

[nageme]

I only recall Kioxia, SK hynix, Samsung and maybe Western Digital and Seagate?
Thinking about SSD makers down to making the NAND chips themselves, not just assemblers.

Seagate doesn't produce flash chip.

There is also Micron/Crucial, and relative-newcomer YMTC / Zhitai.

 

[bug]

Seagate doesn't produce flash chip.

There is also Micron/Crucial, and relative-newcomer YMTC / Zhitai.

If you're thinking about companies producing an entire drive, you probably want them to make the controller as well.

 

[nageme]

I don't mind the controller so much.
But if a self-made controller is also a parameter...

Didn't but does now (?): WD/SanDisk.
Mixed: Crucial (only in P5?).
Does not: Kioxia, YMTC.