HDD prices skyrocket

Flemish newspaper HLN titles prices of hard disks have nearly quadrupled in Belgium following the devastating floods in Thailand. A large chunk of global HDD production relies on factories in Bangkok and unfortunately many of these fabs have been hit hard by recent flooding.

About 40 percent of world's HDDs are made in Thailand, Western Digital was forced to close all its factories in the region while Seagate is suffering from a shortage of key components.

Xavier Cabes from Antwerp distributor 2by2 predicts laptops, notebooks and other electronics with HDDs may get a lot more expensive in the coming weeks. Two weeks ago Cabes sold HDDs with a capacity of 1TB to retailers for 44EUR (excl. VAT), but now the same disks costs 129EUR (excl. VAT) and in some cases as much as 150EUR (excl. VAT).

PC makers are expected to pass the higher costs on to consumers, and unfortunately the problem isn't expected to be resolved anytime soon. PC World wrote last week that the supply problems may not be fully solved until the fourth quarter of 2012.

The HDD supply issues and the higher prices should make solid state disks more competitive versus HDDs, but not in the way we had hoped.