CITIC Securities' research report highlights a notable shift in the storage industry's dynamics. The previous storage upturn was marked by "high hopes but underwhelming results." In contrast, the present cycle is defined by "cautious expectations giving way to rising capital expenditures (CAPEX) among North American Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) and a surge in demand for Hard Disk Drives (HDDs)."

This transition, combined with consistently low utilization rates of NAND production capacity and restrained capital expenditure forecasts from international original equipment manufacturers, suggests that the storage sector's upward trajectory will persist, at the very least, through the latter half of 2026. The report underscores the importance of monitoring the escalating demand for enterprise-grade Solid State Drives (SSDs), especially highlighting storage module firms that are swiftly enhancing their enterprise-grade offerings and possess a well-defined rationale for capitalizing on price hikes.