Hard drive prices skyrocketing due to flooding in Thailand →
Marc Bevand:
Thailand manufactures 25% of the world’s hard drives, and the severe 2011 monsoon season floods affected some of its largest industrial parks, where many hard drive manufacturers and component suppliers are located, causing worldwide shortages and price increases.
The shortage is likely to boost demand for SSDs, leading to increased production volumes and (eventually) lower prices. StorageReview reports that OCZ is increasing capacity already in anticipation, and Michael Foster puts the capacity issues in perspective:
A staggering 33% of hard drive demand will go unanswered by WD, Seagate, Samsung, Hitachi and Toshiba in this quarter alone.