AI and High-Speed SSDs Power India's Gaming Market Growth

India’s gaming market is expanding rapidly, supported by affordable smartphones, growing internet access, and a burgeoning youth segment that embraces gaming and esports. This growth is driving greater demand for high-performance digital storage, with solid-state drives (SSDs) playing a critical role, according to Taninder Sijher, Vice President of Systems Design Engineering at Sandisk.

In a statement to Business Today, Sijher revealed that the rise of more complex and graphically intensive games has shifted the focus of storage from simple capacity to performance and reliability. Modern games require fast loading times and continuous updates, making SSDs essential for a smooth gaming experience. Additionally, the increasing popularity of game streaming, recording, and content creation in India is adding pressure on storage systems to efficiently handle large files and real-time editing.

Despite India’s well-known price sensitivity, the market for SSDs is growing quickly. Recent data shows a 37% quarter-over-quarter increase in internal SSD shipments in India, indicating that gamers and PC enthusiasts are increasingly investing in faster, more capable hardware to optimize performance. This trend is boosted by awareness that high-performance SSD models, such as Sandisk’s WD_BLACK SN8100, provide a competitive edge in gaming.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is further transforming the gaming and storage landscape. As AI-driven applications demand higher processing power and data throughput, storage solutions must evolve to handle data-intensive workloads efficiently. Sandisk has introduced enterprise-level NVMe SSDs with massive capacities and optimizations designed for AI, offering lower latency, higher bandwidth, and better power efficiency suited for demanding use cases.

Storage needs across user groups are becoming more specialized. For professional creators handling 4K and 8K video content or large-scale AI workflows, Sandisk markets tailored products that deliver speed, portability, and durability. Emerging technologies such as Host Bus Flash (HBF) and UltraQLC SSDs are expected to further advance the efficiency and scalability of storage systems for gaming and AI workloads.

Looking ahead, continuous innovation in storage hardware is crucial as India’s gaming ecosystem matures and AI adoption accelerates. The demand for fast, reliable, and high-capacity SSDs is likely to grow, underpinning the digital experiences of the next generation of gamers and creators.