The global memory crisis continues to spread – and is now also directly affecting photographers and filmmakers: Sony has stopped the sale and delivery of a large proportion of its memory cards for the time being. Both SD cards and CFexpress cards of type A and B are affected.
Sony stops orders for SD and CFexpress memory cards
As of March 27, 2026, Sony is no longer accepting new orders from resellers for most of its memory cards. At the same time, purchases via the official Sony online store are also no longer possible for end consumers. In an official announcement, the company cites a worldwide shortage of memory chips and other semiconductors as the reason for this.
Sony emphasizes that this is a temporary measure – however, the company does not specify when exactly the ordering options will be resumed. Updates will be communicated on the respective product pages.
Which products are affected?
The stop affects almost the entire high-quality memory card portfolio from Sony. In detail these are:
- CFexpress Type A (Tough series): CEA-G240T, CEA-G480T, CEA-G960T, CEA-G1920T
- CFexpress type B (Tough series): CEB-G240T, CEB-G480T
- SDXC/SDHC (Tough series): SF-G64T, SF-G128T, SF-G256T
- SDXC/SDHC (other series): SF-M128T, SF-M256T, SF-M512T, SF-E64A, SF-E128A, SF-E256
The CFexpress B card “CEB-G960T” and the slowest SD series with the abbreviation “SF-UZ” have not yet been explicitly mentioned in the announcement. Whether this is an oversight remained unclear at first.
The memory crisis reaches photographers and filmmakers
The background to the delivery stop is the ongoing global storage crisis, which was triggered by the massive expansion of AI data centers. Hyperscalers have been buying up flash memory chips for months at almost any price. Market observers have already predicted a price increase of around 60% for the first quarter of 2026, and there is no end in sight. Since fall 2025, prices for SSDs with NAND flash have doubled to tripled in some cases.
This is now also affecting the market for photography and video memory cards. Sony has already increased the price of the PlayStation 5 this week – also in response to increased component costs.
The affected Sony cards are currently still readily available at European retailers and prices have hardly risen so far. However, this is likely to change as soon as stocks run out. Other brands such as SanDisk have already seen massive price increases: The popular SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-I with 128 GB now costs more than twice as much as it did in summer 2025.
Particularly critical: CFexpress for professional cameras
The foreseeable poor availability of CFexpress cards could become a real problem for professional photographers and videographers in particular. The PCIe Express-based cards are indispensable for many modern professional cameras. They enable the high continuous shooting rates of up to 120 fps in raw format on cameras such as the Sony Alpha 9 III. Current flagship cameras from other manufacturers such as Canon, Nikon and Fujifilm also rely on CFexpress. In film production, the cards have long been standard for fast material backup on set.
If you are still looking for memory cards, you should act now. If you are interested in new memory technologies, you will also find information on the new generation of microSD Express cards.
Conclusion: Buy memory cards now?
Sony’s decision to temporarily stop the delivery of SD and CFexpress memory cards is a clear signal: the memory crisis has also reached the photo market. Anyone who relies on Sony memory cards or is planning to buy more anyway should not wait too long – price increases and supply bottlenecks for all brands are realistic. It remains to be seen when Sony will reopen the ordering options for its memory cards.
