Flooding causes spike in HDD prices, Asus might run out this month

The catastrophic flooding in Thailand is expected to cause a drastic shortage of hard drives according to researchers at iSuppli. Some 660,000 Thailand residents are reportedly out of work after the country shuttered 14,000 factories, including facilities that produce hard drives for Western Digital and Seagate. Hard drive shipments are expected to decline 27.7% from 173 million units in the third quarter to 125 million in the fourth.
Both companies have adjusted their shipment estimates, but they've raised prices to meet revenue forecasts. Average hard drive prices will increase by 10% according to iSuppli, but certain models have increased by as much as 20 to 40%. Western Digital has been ... »read more

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