hard disk prices artificially high?
 

Anyone know what's really going on with hard disk pricing? Did some facility burn down somewhere so they could raise prices?

I tried the usual places so maybe there are some lesser known stores to buy hard disks from at good prices??

It's related to floods in Thailand
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...79R66220111028

Seems that Western Digital has closed their factory but Seagate is still operating. I guess a little gouging is in order by Seagate and others as all prices have gone up. Interesting how different news sites report different causes.
And Dell is blaming the shortage and using as a crutch for bad fiscal numbers. Funny finance. Guess might be a good time to look at SSDs.

If by 'facility' you mean 'country' (or, at least, 'geographical region') and by 'burn down' you mean 'go underwater' then the answer is, yes, that is exactly what happened.

Did you know that Thailand was the source of about a third of the World's hard disk production, and that has essentially gone to zero, at least for the moment?

@timetraveler
<some attitude>

And Meg Whatsherface has turned up saying, essentially "Because HP has long term contracts with Disk Drive suppliers, we are now about to have A Good Time (financially)...possibly involving relatively moderate gouging, as a means of endearing HP to its customers, longer term" in her message to investors (my paraphrase).

You could also read this as saying 'the only way that we'll make money from the PC Business, going forward, is for various world catastrophes to hamper our competition, because we don't have any strategy to improve our position right now, at least in the short term' and given that HP haven't said anything recently that makes it sound as if they have a long term plan (unless saying 'the previous management made a mistake...we're going to drop out of that area of business, because it is too hard for us to make a success of anything' is a valid strategic direction)

I wish them well, but I also wish it sounded as if they had more of a grip on the problem, because buying a Dell is not something that I'd wish on anybody.

</some attitude> :D

I think, right now, if there is any 'gouging', that 'gouging' is taking place closer to the end consumer than the drive manufacturer themselves; it started too soon to be the drive manufacturers who were causing this (I saw some drive prices go up to x5 to their normal prices within a day or two of the floods hitting home). Of course, by now, the manufacturers may be getting in on this particular act, too.

Price gouging is exactly what it is. If HDDs are not being made in Thailand right now and the middle man is buying them from places where the labor is paid a proper wage then the middle man should suck it up and take the loss, not pass it on to the consumer -- that's biting the hand that feeds you. I remember years ago when Japan had cheap labor like Thailand does now. Japan got wise and the same thing will happen in Thailand. China, too.

I mentioned "burn down" because the same thing occurred with RAM in the past. Some factory burned down and RAM prices went up. Funny finance ensued.

The reuters article mentions twice that 377 people were killed due to the flooding. "The sky is falling!!! OMG!!"

The lack of factual information is always interesting. Jorunalism seems to be near death or dead. What reporter on the ground in Thailand wrote the original article? No doubt we'll hear next that the location is classified and the factory is unmarked and the google map is obfuscated and it's a national security issue, ad absurdum.

Another side of this might be that HD makers have been beating each other senseless over prices for so long and the prices are now so low that any chance to gouge is welcomed as it gives them all an excuse to charge more. Just like a cease-fire.

It seems to me all prices for everything is artificially high...

I never think prices are too high. I just don't make enough.

In my lifetime, the prices continue to get cheaper and cheaper. I remember a Winchester drive for $3000 when that price bought a new truck. It was like 4 meg I think or maybe less.

I agree. My first laptop in 2004, I had to pay just under £1000 for something that you can now buy for ~£350.

I agree. Black friday seems to be proof of that. The lady at bestbuy said they lose money on black friday.
How can that be? I think she was lied to by the the liars she works for. Black friday's not a loss-leader.
Companies aren't in business to lose money so my conclusion is that the prices on black friday are closer
to what prices really should be the rest of the year.

A 1TB drive I bought 2 years ago costs more now. Inflation has also gone up so wages are lower and don't keep up.
Making higher prices more severe.

Dunno, I guess then you have to always shop and compare and watch for sales. Everything you buy is that way. From food to homes and cars. (dunno, I don't own a jet but maybe they shop around too)

When I was a kid I use to buy high and sell low. Don't do that.

jefro, I remember around 1990 or '91 buying an 20mb external hard drive for my two floppy Tandy laptop for around $200 or so. Since the Tandy only had floppies, I thought I had all the storage in the world at the time.

timetraveler, you are correct also. When big stores such as Macys, etc have these so called Sales, I believe they inflate the regular prices and when you get the marked down prices and extra percentage off, you end up paying the normal price for the items.

It seems they are finally going down.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/artic...rmath_subsides