Crucial Micron has ditched plans to release a Ballistix TX3 NVMe SSD later this year, despite only announcing it back in June. Initially shown off alongside some new Ballistix DRAM at Computex, Crucial Micron has killed the idea altogether, leaving everyone wondering what Crucial's plans for solid state storage are.
No one is entirely sure why either, especially since Crucial does lack an expansive, consumer-focused solid state storage line up compared to other manufacturers. While there are still a few legacy drives kicking around, the only real offering it has is the Crucial MX300, which uses 3D NAND, but has a traditional SATA III interface.
The Ballistix TX3 was supposed to be Crucial's consumer M.2 coming out party, but now it won't happen at all.
Source: Anandtech
Anandtech suggests that the reason for the cancellation may have been because Crucial needed to switch controllers for the drive. It may also be that that with increased competition in the M.2 SSD game, that Crucial merely decided that entering right now wasn't a worthy investment – though so close to the drive's release, that seems hard to imagine.
When our own reporter, Leo Waldock reached out to Crucial, it had this to say:
“Based on prioritisation of company resources and investments, the Ballistix TX3 PCIe NVMe SSD program has been cancelled. We are, however, continuing to explore potential opportunities for future gaming products and will provide an update as new plans are formalised.”
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KitGuru Says: It seems a shame that Crucial isn't more competitive in the SSD space, but it's somewhat understandable. It's hardly an easy game to dominate.