Hard disk prices soared! The flood disaster in Thailand

Natural disasters this year seem to always like to visit the IT industry. The world has just recovered from the Yu Wei of the Japanese earthquake in March. At the end of July, Thailand experienced another major flood that had not happened in a hundred years, which seriously impacted the global computer hard disk market.

As the second largest hard disk production base (after China), Thailand produces approximately 40% of the world's hard disk production each year. The major floods forced a number of hard-disk factories to close down and some of the supporting facilities for electric power and traffic lights were destroyed. The time required for full recovery is still unpredictable. As a result, the prices of hard drives that have been very modest have begun to fluctuate, and the highest ones have even doubled.

Various reaction <br> <br> Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba, Hitachi and other manufacturers are in varying degrees of impact in the flood. One of the most influential was the Western Digital. The current market leader, two of the largest brothers in the market, was destroyed in the flood. Seagate and Hitachi’s hard disk factories were in good condition, but due to the inconvenience of power and transportation facilities, etc. A smaller effect. Some experts predict that this disaster may cause Seagate to surpass the Western Digital once again to top the list. According to a report by the market research institute iSuppli, global hard disk production in the fourth quarter of this year will drop by about 30% due to the flood. Global PC shipments will also be hit. Apple CEO Cook also said last week that the computer industry will face a shortage of hard drives.

Domestic market

In the wave of price hikes on the hard disk, the domestic market responded most quickly and fiercely. All along, the prices of hard disks have been very mild and have slowly declined. However, starting from last week, in major IT cities such as Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Beijing, and Shanghai, the price of hard disk, which has a capacity of 500G, has almost doubled in the market, and other capacities have risen by 30% to 60%. The cost of computer DIY has risen. Although the price of branded computers has not yet changed, the price hikes have been expected as the situation in the hard disk market has deteriorated.