TOKYO, Japan — Sony has temporarily halted sales of several memory card products after a worsening global semiconductor shortage limited its ability to meet demand.
The company said it has stopped orders and shipments of high-performance SD and CFexpress cards, affecting both retail consumers and professional distributors. Sony did not provide a timeline for when normal supply will resume, citing ongoing constraints in memory chip availability.
The disruption is linked to a broader shortage in semiconductors, driven partly by surging demand from artificial intelligence systems and large-scale data centres that require high-performance memory components.
Chipmakers have increasingly prioritised these high-demand sectors, reducing allocations for consumer storage products such as camera memory cards.
Industry analysts say the shortage could have immediate consequences for content creators, particularly photographers and videographers working with high-resolution formats such as 4K and 8K video that require fast, reliable storage.
High-performance cards like CFexpress and professional-grade SD cards are widely used in modern mirrorless and cinema cameras, where sustained write speeds are critical for recording large video files and burst photography.
Reduced availability is expected to push prices higher, forcing creators to reuse existing cards more frequently or delay equipment upgrades. This could slow production workflows and increase risks linked to storage management, including data loss or project delays.
Professionals working under tight deadlines may be particularly affected, as limited storage can disrupt shooting schedules and post-production timelines. Some users may turn to alternative brands, though performance and reliability can vary significantly between manufacturers.
The semiconductor shortage has affected multiple industries in recent years, including smartphones, vehicles and computing hardware.
The latest development suggests that storage accessories are now also facing pressure as chip manufacturers shift production toward higher-margin and AI-driven applications.
