groveChuck
U-matic Member
I've been in the market for drives for a while but had been holding off since the price spikes after the Thai floods.
Looking for an update I found this article- it looks like I'll bite the bullet and buy...
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/hdd-hard-drive-thailand-flood-prices-shortage,14681.html
“The recovery of global HDD manufacturing has begun and will continue during each quarter of 2012,” noted Fang Zhang, storage analyst for IHS. “However, the recovery will be prolonged for at least two more quarters, as supply constraints keep unit shipments from climbing on an annual basis until third quarter." The shortage will translate to continued inflated prices throughout 2012, the firm said.
HDD makers and component suppliers have resumed only partial production in Thailand and have shifted some of their manufacturing to other countries to alleviate the impact of the supply shortage. According to IHS, Western Digital has been the HDD manufacturer most impacted by the floods and is not expected to return to full production until September.
IHS said that the Thailand flood has caused the global average selling price (ASP) for HDDs to jump by 28 percent in Q4 2011. Prices are forecast to decline by 3 percent in Q1 and by 9 percent in Q2.
“Prices will remain high for a number of reasons, including the higher costs associated with the relocation of production, as well as higher component costs because of flooding impacts among component makers,” Zhang said. “Furthermore, PC brands have signed annual contacts with HDD makers that have locked them into elevated pricing deals for the rest of the year.”
From Wiki:
The World Bank has estimated 1,425 billion baht (US$ 45.7 Bn) in economic damages and losses due to flooding, as of 1 December 2011. Most of this was to the manufacturing industry, as seven major industrial estates were inundated by as much 3 meters (10 feet) during the floods.
Disruptions to manufacturing supply chains affected regional automobile production and caused a global shortage of hard disk drives, which is expected to last throughout 2012.
The World Bank's estimate for this disaster means it ranks as the world's fourth costliest disaster as of 2011 surpassed only by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, 1995 Kobe earthquake, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Thailand is the world's 2nd largest producer of hard disk drives accounting for approximately 25% of the world's production.Many of the factories that make hard disk drives have been flooded, including Western Digital's, leading some industry analysts to predict future worldwide shortages of hard disk drives.Western Digital was able to get one of their plants, that was flooded on October 15, 2011, back up and running on November 30, 2011. Some operations were expected to take longer to recover and another plant as of December 2, 2011 was still under 2 feet of water.
Looking for an update I found this article- it looks like I'll bite the bullet and buy...
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/hdd-hard-drive-thailand-flood-prices-shortage,14681.html
“The recovery of global HDD manufacturing has begun and will continue during each quarter of 2012,” noted Fang Zhang, storage analyst for IHS. “However, the recovery will be prolonged for at least two more quarters, as supply constraints keep unit shipments from climbing on an annual basis until third quarter." The shortage will translate to continued inflated prices throughout 2012, the firm said.
HDD makers and component suppliers have resumed only partial production in Thailand and have shifted some of their manufacturing to other countries to alleviate the impact of the supply shortage. According to IHS, Western Digital has been the HDD manufacturer most impacted by the floods and is not expected to return to full production until September.
IHS said that the Thailand flood has caused the global average selling price (ASP) for HDDs to jump by 28 percent in Q4 2011. Prices are forecast to decline by 3 percent in Q1 and by 9 percent in Q2.
“Prices will remain high for a number of reasons, including the higher costs associated with the relocation of production, as well as higher component costs because of flooding impacts among component makers,” Zhang said. “Furthermore, PC brands have signed annual contacts with HDD makers that have locked them into elevated pricing deals for the rest of the year.”
From Wiki:
The World Bank has estimated 1,425 billion baht (US$ 45.7 Bn) in economic damages and losses due to flooding, as of 1 December 2011. Most of this was to the manufacturing industry, as seven major industrial estates were inundated by as much 3 meters (10 feet) during the floods.
Disruptions to manufacturing supply chains affected regional automobile production and caused a global shortage of hard disk drives, which is expected to last throughout 2012.
The World Bank's estimate for this disaster means it ranks as the world's fourth costliest disaster as of 2011 surpassed only by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, 1995 Kobe earthquake, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Thailand is the world's 2nd largest producer of hard disk drives accounting for approximately 25% of the world's production.Many of the factories that make hard disk drives have been flooded, including Western Digital's, leading some industry analysts to predict future worldwide shortages of hard disk drives.Western Digital was able to get one of their plants, that was flooded on October 15, 2011, back up and running on November 30, 2011. Some operations were expected to take longer to recover and another plant as of December 2, 2011 was still under 2 feet of water.
Last edited:
