why are ssds so expensive? aren't they flash based memory storage devices? if flash memory sells so dirt cheap wht makes ssds so expensive?

New technology and low volumes?

Think if it cost you about 20 bucks for a 1 gig for 20 bucks how much do you think a 16 or 32gb ssd is going to be. Cost per gigabyte is still high plus the fact that they offer a significant performance over platter-based hard drives so they are going to want to sell it for more. this is still emerging technology. mechanical hard drives were in this price range when they were first introduced into the market and the sizes were nothing compared to what we've got today! As demand increases and the cost of flash memory drops they will probably be more suited for the average computer enthusiast. SSD's actually started out as a solution to the military and NASA and other corporations that need storage that can handle harsh environments and much more amounts of shock than a mechanical hard drive could.

Recall the first desktop hard drive, A whopping 5MB of storage space made by Shugert now Seagate. at a cost of about $10,000.00 in todays dollars.
The flash memory used in the new SSD drives is of a different and better type, than whet we use in our cameras.
As with all things but gold the price will come down over time.

I am asking myself same question. I see SD cards that are around $4/GB at new egg (not high performance ones though). So that should make you think that with all the construction, controllers, and other dev stuff it shouldnt exceed $10/GB but it does. Actually its around $20/GB for any acceptable SSDs at the moment. I think the reason is VERY low volume, OEMs are buying almost all of the production on High prices yet, young technology, and probably not the latest chips in the SSDs.

My predictions for near future:
More and more companies are jumping on the SSD wagon and that creates more Volumes and more competitiveness. I expect SSDs to go down to $10/GB at the end of the year and $5/GB at the end of 2009 (for SSDs that have around 100GB/s read/write rates). I think the $5/GB will be the breaking point and make them reasonable to buy, because you will be able to buy 32GB for $160 ( a decend HDD). I think the pair SSD + HDD for storage will be the next common thing for all PCs. probably 95% of the users will find 32GB are enough to store your OS + Apps + few Games you play, and store everything else on HDD (Movies, pics, videos, apps, backups, etc)

Also I expect a 100GB/s SSD to be around 2-3 times faster for general use (OS , apps, games etc) than a normal 100GB/s HDD. Thats the near future by my opinion.

In long term I cant really predict but I think SSDs will be around for at least 5 years, and after I buy myself a 750GB HDD in few weeks, my next upgrade will be SSD (probably 2009 summer - winter)

Regards

I expect flash drive makers to start making deals on the USB 2.0 versions once the USB 3.0 version is about to debut because 3.0 will be faster so that is why I'm holding off on buying more flash memory. I already have CD's and an external hard drive so it isn't crucial to have a lot of SD or XD cards unless you are a photographer.

I've also seen 4GB SD cards on sale at different places (check your Sunday paper) and there are sales when people are on vacation and when kids go back to school and there are many rebates and deals. I've seen 4GB for as low as $24 and maybe lower.