(Credit: Western Digital)
The days of inexpensive hard drives that become ever more affordable may be over, at least till the end of the year.
The monsoon floods in Thailand have disrupted hard drive production, hitting major manufacturers such as Western Digital and Toshiba. The worst-affected is Western Digital, which produces 60 percent of its drives in the country. Although Toshiba makes half of all its hard drives in Thailand, it has a smaller market share.
Other manufacturers such as Seagate, whose factories remain operational, may be affected indirectly as key component suppliers, Nidec Corp and Hutchinson Technology, are also located in Thailand. In fact, Nidec provides 70 percent of all the motors used in hard drives globally. Besides hard drives, you can also expect these floods to affect other tech products.
Via iSuppli