Sales of the Samsung 970 PRO and 970 EVO M.2 NVMe SSDs are due to begin tomorrow (May 7), and it appears that Samsung may be making a last-minute adjustment to their suggested retail prices. An attentive reader has pointed out that two different sections of Samsung's web site are showing product listings for the 970 series. The Samsung Business site is showing the prices as originally announced last month, but the consumer-oriented Samsung site is showing substantially lower prices indicating a 25% cut to the 970 PRO prices and 5-13% cuts to the 970 EVO prices. Neither set of product listings currently gives the option to buy directly from Samsung, and only the business section listings have links to other online retailers. Those linked product listings on CDW, SHI and Zones have prices above either set of MSRPs and do not show immediate availability.

The product ID numbers for the business and consumer listings differ slightly, with the business section listings showing IDs ending in "E" while the consumer section shows IDs ending in "BW". These may reflect a difference in packaging, but the drive itself is the same. We have asked Samsung for clarification about the pricing and product IDs, but have not yet received a response. The answer to the question of pricing should become apparent tomorrow when major online retailers start selling the 970 PRO and 970 EVO.

NVMe SSD Price Comparison 240-256GB 400-512GB 960-1024GB 2TB Samsung 970 PRO

(shipping May 7) $249.99 (49¢/GB) $499.99 (49¢/GB) Samsung 970 EVO

(shipping May 7) $109.99 (44¢/GB) $199.99 (40¢/GB) $399.99 (40¢/GB) $799.99 (40¢/GB) Samsung 960 PRO $319.25 (62¢/GB) $604.65 (59¢/GB) $1249.95 (61¢/GB) Samsung 960 EVO $117.99 (47¢/GB) $219.55 (44¢/GB) $432.35 (43¢/GB) WD Black 3D NAND $119.99 (48¢/GB) $234.24 (47¢/GB) $449.99 (45¢/GB) Intel SSD 760p $116.25 (45¢/GB) $215.45 (42¢/GB) $399.99 (39¢/GB) $1730.01 (84¢/GB) Plextor M9Pe $119.99 (47¢/GB) $209.19 (41¢/GB) HP EX920 $109.99 (43¢/GB) $199.99 (39¢/GB) $349.99 (34¢/GB) MyDigitalSSD SBX $84.99 (33¢/GB) $157.99 (31¢/GB) $309.99 (30¢/GB) Crucial MX500 (SATA) $69.99 (28¢/GB) $114.99 (23¢/GB) $236.06 (24¢/GB) $472.16 (24¢/GB)

If the lower prices for the Samsung 970 PRO and 970 EVO prevail, then Samsung will be putting a lot of pressure on other high-end NVMe SSDs. Some of the competitors like the new generation WD Black and the Plextor M9Pe are having trouble staying in stock, and the Intel 760p is still above the prices it launched at early this year. All of them would be undercut by the 970 EVO at the new MSRPs, leaving the HP EX920 as the fastest drive that is still cheaper than Samsung.

With an even bigger price cut, the Samsung 970 PRO will only be 25% more expensive than the 970 EVO, rather than carrying a 40% premium. It's still a step up that is unnecessary for most users, but it's nice to see the fastest flash-based SSD under 50¢/GB.

Update: B&H has all of the 970s in stock except the 512GB 970 PRO. Prices are listed at the higher MSRPs, but with "Instant Savings" that bring the final prices down to the lower MSRP values. Amazon has the 1TB 970 EVO in stock at the original higher MSRP.

Related Reading