webfact Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Dell says Thai floods will impact disk drive supply WASHINGTON, November 12, 2011 (AFP) - Leading personal computer maker Dell said Friday that flooding in Thailand is likely to tighten supplies of the all-important hard disk drives used in its computers. "Dell is continuing to actively monitor the Thailand flooding situation, and while we expect Hard Disk Drive supply to be limited in the next several weeks, we are working closely with our HDD suppliers to mitigate any customer impact," the company told AFP in an email. "We have teams engaging daily with affected suppliers regarding this industry situation in order to most effectively and efficiently manage our HDD supply chain." Industry analysts said this week that PC makers could be hit hard by early next year due to more than two months of flooding that has shut down many of the HDD factories in Thailand, which supply about 40 percent of world market for the crucial memory components. According to industry specialist International Data Corporation, the plant closures could force, in the worst case, a 20 percent cut in PC shipments in the first quarter next year. "Even the largest vendors are expected to face HDD shortages, particularly for portable PCs where the market is more consolidated," said Loren Loverde of IDC. Consultancy IHS iSuppli said the floods would cut global HDD shipments by some 51 million units in the current quarter, to 125 million units. "Prices for HDDs have already begun to move higher on the anticipation of shortages, and it is likely that prices will remain elevated, possibly by more than 10 percent, for several quarters to come," IHS said. -- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-11-12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaimite Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 (edited) Yesterday in Ubon I tried to buy 4 of 3 1/2 inch 2TB drives for my NAS. The shop told me they would only sell to dealers in bulk, and when I asked how much a drive would be if I bought any I was quoted a price of more that double what I had checked on the Internet earlier. I asked other shops in the mall and was told the story was the same in all shops. My NAS upgrade will wait 6 months until my next leave Edited November 12, 2011 by thaimite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodyleonhard Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Old news. And not entirely accurate. Oct 18: http://www.infoworld.com/t/hard-drives/the-impending-hard-drive-shortage-and-possible-price-hikes-176453 Oct 31: http://www.infoworld.com/t/computer-hardware/hard-drive-prices-skyrocket-177515 Nov 9: http://www.infoworld.com/t/laptops/buy-ssd-based-laptops-now-prices-jump-178505 Shops in Phuket will only sell internal hard drives if you buy an entire PC. They'll sell externals, but at horribly elevated prices. Errors in AFP's report: Floods in Thailand affect about 25% of the world's supply of HDDs. Laptop PCs are particularly affected because the WD plant at Bang Pa-In made 2.5 inch HDDs, the size used in laptops. There will be cuts in total output, but 51 million is way overstating the case. Demand is up because of panic buying. IDC is blowing smoke when it predicts a 20% drop in PC shipments in 1Q 2012. And prices have gone up much, much more than 10%, all over the world, in all segments of the supply chain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tywais Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Just noticed some Thailand online computer shops are not listing prices now but 'Call for price'. I planned on ordering a 2TB drive a few weeks ago. What I get for procrastinating again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theanimaster Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 "...crucial memory components"?? I don't mean to be an asshat, but dont they really mean "...crucial STORAGE components"?? This question differs: How much memory does your computer have? from this one: How much disk space -- STORAGE does your computer have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theanimaster Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Yesterday in Ubon I tried to buy 4 of 3 1/2 inch 2TB drives for my NAS. The shop told me they would only sell to dealers in bulk, and when I asked how much a drive would be if I bought any I was quoted a price of more that double what I had checked on the Internet earlier. I asked other shops in the mall and was told the story was the same in all shops. My NAS upgrade will wait 6 months until my next leave Report it to the police: surely they're "taking advantage of flood victims" here!! 7 years in the slammer and 140,000 baht I think!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tywais Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 "...crucial memory components"?? I don't mean to be an asshat, but dont they really mean "...crucial STORAGE components"?? This question differs: How much memory does your computer have? from this one: How much disk space -- STORAGE does your computer have? What is the difference between memory and hard disk space?Answer: Memory and disk space are perhaps the most widely-confused terms in the computing world. To truly comprehend how your computer works, you must first understand what memory and disk space are. Sharpened.net Actually, nearly all hard drives have memory in them but I understand your point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easybullet3 Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 this is like the third time that we heard about hard drive sales... ok,, YES.. WE GET IT!!! hard drive production is down. ok,, yes, no need to keep reporting the same story again and again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsgatse Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Does Michael Dell have a part time job at FROC? This news was conveyed about 2+ weeks ago..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noitom Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 "...crucial memory components"?? I don't mean to be an asshat, but dont they really mean "...crucial STORAGE components"?? This question differs: How much memory does your computer have? from this one: How much disk space -- STORAGE does your computer have? Good point. The article seems wrong. They are referring to "storage" HDD, not memory. Some optical disk is an in memory component, but I don't believe that Thailand factories have the IP for this. Certainly not 40%. I question that 40% figure for even HDD. Who would actually believe that western manufacturers like Apple and Dell and any others of reasonable size would rely on Thailand for anywhere near that % of supply chain? Today on CNBC, they had industry analysts on at 1520 who stated that the impact to large companies like Dell, Apple, HP, EMC, Network Appliance would be minimal and they have backup facilities as any prudent large scale manufacturer would. Based on the style of reporting in the Thai English press, a lot of scepticism about their facts and figures and the importance of Thailand is justified. When I read these articles, I can't resist the temptation to keep asking, who in their right mind would rely that heavily on typical factories and management in Thailand for this level of supply? remember the airport closing in 2008 Nov and Dec for almost two full weeks by the yellow shirts. This was a total breakdown in security and management. The Thai government was powerless to ring the alarm bell about HDD then or anything. They just were totally powerless to secure their major hub airport. The floods are the least of the problem. Wait until they try to cleanup the bacteria and contamination in the "clean" component factories. And the health and medical issues that follow on when people eventually try to go back to work. If you read the Thai press - everything is planned to be back up and running soon. The Thais think they will be able to bluff their way through recovery with the foreigners. Over inflated sense of self importance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tywais Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Hard disk supply could take two years to recoverIt could take up to two years for hard disk component suppliers in Thailand to get back to pre-flood production rates, according to DigiTimes. The site's sources claim that Japan-based HDD motor supplier Nidec had over 2,000 pieces of equipment damaged by the floods, most of which will be beyond repair. The site also claims that companies have turned to grey markets in attempts to find suppliers for parts. Prices of hard disks have sky-rocketed in recent weeks due to lack of supply, with old stocks quickly running dry. Models with 2TB capacities have doubled in price to around £140, and the once bargain-tastic 1TB Samsung F3 now retails from anywhere between £80 and £100 - just a few weeks ago the same hard disk could be had for around £30. bit-tech.com //side note - Nidec makes 70% of all hard drive motors. Plants in Phillipines and China are expected to increase production to compensate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlansford Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Old news. And not entirely accurate. Oct 18: http://www.infoworld...ce-hikes-176453 Oct 31: http://www.infoworld...kyrocket-177515 Nov 9: http://www.infoworld...ces-jump-178505 Shops in Phuket will only sell internal hard drives if you buy an entire PC. They'll sell externals, but at horribly elevated prices. Errors in AFP's report: Floods in Thailand affect about 25% of the world's supply of HDDs. Laptop PCs are particularly affected because the WD plant at Bang Pa-In made 2.5 inch HDDs, the size used in laptops. There will be cuts in total output, but 51 million is way overstating the case. Demand is up because of panic buying. IDC is blowing smoke when it predicts a 20% drop in PC shipments in 1Q 2012. And prices have gone up much, much more than 10%, all over the world, in all segments of the supply chain. your 25 % affected is correct. The AFP was saying (or trying to say) that Thailand has 40% of the WW production capacity. Also correct. But the AFP wording is rather twisted and easily misunderstood, and it does sound as though they are saying that 40% of the world's production is affected, which is not the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katana Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Went to the local computer fair today (outside Thailand). Noticed that the price of 2T drives had gone up ca 40% since I bought one about 3 weeks ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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