Hard disk prices continue to rise

Evidence is continuing to emerge that companies are cashing in on the expected shortage of hard disks (HD) following the floods in Thailand by pushing up prices.

For example the average price of Western Digital's 1.5TB Caviar Green series' internal drive on Pricegrabber has shot up from $162 to $280 over the past five days. Some UK retailers such as the Dixons Group are continuing to ration the number of hard disks.

Andy Cordial, the managing director of reseller Origin Storage, said: "We believe the situation will get worse before it improves but Origin will continue to do everything possible to support customers and try to eliminate any profiteering."

Meanwhile, Toshiba has reported water is still two meters deep in its storage device plant and three meters deep in its semiconductor factory in Thailand. Seagate has already filed a report with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that in its view of  the confirmed that of 180 million hard disks for  the fourth quarter of this year, the market will be able to deliver 110-120 million units. Of that Seagate expects to ship 41 - 45 million units, which is the lower middle of their 40-50 million broad estimate provided on their last quarterly call.

According to reseller Origin Storage the most critical loss for many manufacturers is a key component for read/write heads. The company said that one of the major components of read/write heads, the slider is produced in Thailand. The company said that by March next year, the estimated time most companies are expected to get production back into full swing the supply of HD will be very low.

Seagate reported to the SEC that providing it can get the supply components it needs, it expects to deliver 60 million units in the first quarter of 2012 and things could be back to normal for the company by mid-2012