Rarely used microSD Express cards sell out in Japan after Switch 2 unveiling

Bottom line: The SD Express standard for memory cards initially debuted in 2018 but has seen virtually no use because most devices don't meet its bandwidth specifications. The Nintendo Switch 2 might be the first widely available product that requires microSD Express, and its unveiling has already sparked a substantial sales spike for the format. Hermitage Akihabara reports that microSD Express cards have sold out in e-commerce stores across Japan since Nintendo confirmed that the upcoming Switch 2 requires them. Featuring significantly higher read/write speeds than standard memory units, SD Express cards are in short supply because vendors had little reason to manufacture them until now. Commonly used SD card formats such as SDHC, SDXC, UHS-I, and UHS-II, which support the original Nintendo Switch, typically read data at speeds ranging between 10 and 90 MB/s. By moving from the standard SD interface to PCIe, SD Express can achieve up to 900 MB/s – not quite as fast as an NVMe SSD bu ... Read full article.