Sony freezes memory card orders in Japan amid growing storage crisis — the company attributes the cause to ‘shortage of semiconductors’

Sony Japan has announced that it’s no longer accepting orders for almost its entire lineup of CFexpress and SD memory cards as of March 27, citing a “global shortage of semiconductors (memory) and other factors” and anticipating that supply won’t meet demand “for the foreseeable future.” The announcement, made on Sony’s Japanese product information page, covers orders from both authorized dealers and consumers at the Sony Store and has no stated end date.

The suspension includes Sony's CFexpress Type A cards in 240GB, 480GB, 960GB, and 1,920GB capacities, as well as CFexpress Type B cards in 240GB and 480GB sizes. Sony's full range of high-end SDXC/SDHC cards is also affected, including the 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB TOUGH-branded models and the standard SF-M and SF-E series cards in capacities from 64GB to 512GB.

Only two product lines appear to have escaped the order freeze: the 960GB CFexpress Type B card and the entry-level SF-UZ series SD cards, according to PetaPixel. However, the SF-UZ cards are UHS-I models that have already been discontinued in the U.S. Outside of a small number of remaining retailers. Existing stock on shelves may still be available until it sells through, but Sony is not fulfilling new orders.

Sony didn’t specify which component suppliers are constrained or provide a timeline for resumption. "We will consider it while monitoring the supply situation and will announce it separately on the product information page," the company said. The fact that Sony has paused all orders rather than quoting extended lead times or backorders suggests that it’s struggling to source NAND flash, supplies of which have been smashed by the ongoing memory shortage driven by AI data center demand.

In February, TrendForce revised its Q1 2026 DRAM contract price forecast upward to a 90-95% quarter-over-quarter increase, with NAND flash up 55-60% over the same period, and Phison’s CEO has warned that NAND shortages could shut down entire consumer electronics companies this year. Now, Sony’s hardly going to be forced to shutter its operations due to a lack of NAND, but all this is illustrative that even the bigger players aren’t immune to memory market volatility. Currently, the suspension only applies to Japan.

Sony is the first major company to halt memory card orders outright rather than simply raising prices or extending lead times. The move coincided with Sony's announcement of worldwide PS5 price increases by as much as $100 on the same day. The higher U.S. Prices, effective from April 2, will put the standard PS5 at $649.99, up from $549.99.

Sony's lower-end V30-rated 64GB and 128GB SD cards are also included in the order suspension, so it’s clear that the shortage is affecting all tiers of NAND flash production, not just the high-performance segments consumed by enterprise and AI workloads.

Follow 3DTested on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.