Western Digital Corp. today announced that production of hard drives in its facilities close to Bangkok, Thailand, will be constrained in the current quarter due to the severe flooding in Thailand. The flooding is causing problems with the region's infrastructure, including transportation and utilities, and has resulted in the inundation of some supplier facilities and employee homes. The company is gratified to report that its approximately 37,000 Thailand-based employees are deemed safe at this time.The company is working with its suppliers to maximize throughput and availability of parts in order to best meet the needs of its customers.In the quarter ending July 1, 2011, WD shipped approximately 54 million hard drives from its facilities in Thailand and Malaysia, with approximately 60 percent coming from its Thailand sites. The company's Thailand operations source much of its supply of components from local suppliers.While WD's facilities in Thailand are operational, production has been suspended on a temporary basis to protect its employees and its facilities and equipment against water ingress. The company indicated that conditions associated with the continued flooding are evolving quickly and the extent of the impact on its operations in Thailand cannot yet be fully determined. The company will provide further updates on the situation, including on its investment community conference call on Wednesday, October 19, 2011.

28 Comments on WD Reports Impact on HDD Production Due to Severe Flooding in Thailand

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#1 btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator



Taking into account WD being a very-high volume HDD supplier and how a bigger chunk of the industry is spread across Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore, I don't expect HDD prices to go up. You can additionally refer to our older article to give you an idea of how the HDD manufacturing industry is spread across.Taking into account WD being a very-high volume HDD supplier and how a bigger chunk of the industry is spread across Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore, I don't expect HDD prices to go up. Posted on Oct 12th 2011, 13:05 Reply

#2 FreedomEclipse

~Technological Technocrat~ Or those 37,000 employee's got set up by WD...



37,000 WD sweatshop workers Employee's got smart, formed a union and were damanding 50c more to their $1 a day salary and WD couldnt bring back the gas chamber so they tried to drown them instead.



I love a good conspiracy.



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Seriously though. I hope all their staff are safe. Posted on Oct 12th 2011, 22:09 Reply

#3 [H]@RD5TUFF

Wonder if this will lead to price gouging. Posted on Oct 13th 2011, 4:34 Reply

#4 RejZoR

It will. Just like it did when Australia was flooded. It's not relevant, but every excuse is a good one to increase the prices. Posted on Oct 13th 2011, 7:41 Reply

#5 Melvis

Oh hell yes the prices have gone up here on average $25-$35 per drive, and even more for others grrr. Real bad timing as i need to buy a few HDD's NOW!! Posted on Oct 25th 2011, 6:27 Reply

#6 xBruce88x

at least they're not as bad as the oil companies... Posted on Oct 25th 2011, 6:32 Reply

#7 de.das.dude

Pro Indian Modder FreedomEclipse Or those 37,000 employee's got set up by WD...



37,000 WD sweatshop workers Employee's got smart, formed a union and were damanding 50c more to their $1 a day salary and WD couldnt bring back the gas chamber so they tried to drown them instead.



I love a good conspiracy.



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Seriously though. I hope all their staff are safe. its japan. i think they would rather hire ninjas to do the killing. its japan. i think they would rather hire ninjas to do the killing. Posted on Oct 25th 2011, 7:12 Reply

#8 Neuromancer

Newegg HDD proces appear to have gone up already. At least them seem quite a bit higher than they were last week. Posted on Oct 25th 2011, 7:24 Reply

#9 btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator FreedomEclipse Or those 37,000 employee's got set up by WD...



37,000 WD sweatshop workers Employee's got smart, formed a union and were damanding 50c more to their $1 a day salary and WD couldnt bring back the gas chamber so they tried to drown them instead.



I love a good conspiracy.



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Seriously though. I hope all their staff are safe. You don't manufacture HDDs in sweat shops. You need You don't manufacture HDDs in sweat shops. You need cleanrooms and your employees to be dressed in bunny suits (special suit for semiconductor and HDD mfg). Posted on Oct 25th 2011, 9:34 Reply

#10 n-ster

btarunr You don't manufacture HDDs in sweat shops. You need cleanrooms and your employees to be dressed in bunny suits (special suit for semiconductor and HDD mfg). But they still get underpaid :(



If what he said is true, their 37 000 employees are getting the pay of what 1-2 employees from the Western world would get lol o.o



and they would probably be working in sweatshops if it didn't affect the HDDs quality. But they still get underpaid :(If what he said is true, their 37 000 employees are getting the pay of what 1-2 employees from the Western world would get lol o.oand they would probably be working in sweatshops if it didn't affect the HDDs quality. Posted on Oct 25th 2011, 10:16 Reply

#11 Deleted member 3

de.das.dude its japan. i think they would rather hire ninjas to do the killing. How would you hire a ninja if you can't see them? How would you hire a ninja if you can't see them? Posted on Oct 25th 2011, 11:56 Reply

#12 FreedomEclipse

~Technological Technocrat~ DanTheBanjoman How would you hire a ninja if you can't see them? secondly. how could they hire enough ninja's to kill 37'000 people??



the cost would be too great. its better to let nature run wild which costs nothing unless their the ones that paid people off to blow up the dam.



that way they can claim it back on insurance. secondly. how could they hire enough ninja's to kill 37'000 people??the cost would be too great. its better to let nature run wild which costs nothing unless their the ones that paid people off to blow up the dam.that way they can claim it back on insurance. Posted on Oct 25th 2011, 12:13 Reply

#13 Deleted member 3

FreedomEclipse secondly. how could they hire enough ninja's to kill 37'000 people??



the cost would be too great. its better to let nature run wild which costs nothing unless their the ones that paid people off to blow up the dam.



that way they can claim it back on insurance. Pyramid scheme. Pyramid scheme. Posted on Oct 25th 2011, 12:51 Reply

#14 FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!" The new and improved pyramid is the multi-level marketing scheme: every ninja kills one person and hires one more for the next. Rince and repeat until you got 37,000. :roll: Posted on Oct 25th 2011, 12:53 Reply

#15 techtard

I just checked out HDD prices online, and they shot up quite a bit.



Not in the market for any HDDs at the moment, but it's brutal how fast retailers took advantage of the Thailand flooding. Posted on Oct 25th 2011, 14:12 Reply

#16 n-ster

They weren't so high a few days ago :( I was about to buy 6 HDDs at 80$ each, now they are 25$ ea more.... :(



I guess I'll have to wait now >.> Posted on Oct 25th 2011, 15:35 Reply

#17 Neuromancer

FreedomEclipse secondly. how could they hire enough ninja's to kill 37'000 people?? WTF? You would only need 1! :toast:



heh heh WTF? You would only need 1! :toast:heh heh Posted on Oct 25th 2011, 17:36 Reply

#18 BrooksyX

dang hdd prices are getting crazy expensive. feel like we are in the early 2000s again with those prices.



I was just about to build my girlfriends parents a cheap sanybridge rig too :( Posted on Oct 25th 2011, 17:54 Reply

#19 Soylent Joe

Yes definitely the prices are now insane. We're looking at around $100 for a 320-500GB (was <$40), $200 for a 1TB (was about $55), closer to $300 or higher for anything bigger (was $60-140). So glad that I've got my storage solutions taken care of. I feel bad for anyone who has to buy one right now because of an emergency situation. We can only hope they fall back in line before 2012.



Also, my face when seeing the new prices

<--- Posted on Nov 6th 2011, 5:11 Reply

#20 tigger

I'm the only one My god 54 million drives shipped, how many petabytes of storage would that be.



Answers on a stamped addressed envelope children. Posted on Nov 6th 2011, 15:16 Reply

#21 Dbiggs9

Went to go picked up drives seen crazy prices gave up now i know why! This shut down my new drive upgrades Posted on Nov 25th 2011, 22:59 Reply

#22 btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator I spoke to some local distributors, they say it will take up till February 2012 for HDD prices to cool down.



WD's plant restoration is moving at a breakneck pace. Posted on Nov 25th 2011, 23:02 Reply

#23 Dbiggs9

I picked up 2 1TB about 6months ago for $50 each. same drive today $149. Looks like i will have to wait till summer. Posted on Nov 25th 2011, 23:06 Reply

#24 FreedomEclipse

~Technological Technocrat~ btarunr I spoke to some local distributors, they say it will take up till February 2012 for HDD prices to cool down.



WD's plant restoration is moving at a breakneck pace. werent people saying that we'd still be feeling the effects of the HDD shortage well beyond march 2012?? werent people saying that we'd still be feeling the effects of the HDD shortage well beyond march 2012?? Posted on Nov 25th 2011, 23:25 Reply

#25 btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator FreedomEclipse werent people saying that we'd still be feeling the effects of the HDD shortage well beyond march 2012?? By "effects", they're right. We won't get September 2011 prices for a while, but prices will considerably cool down. While we now pay 200~300% of September's prices, we'll be paying about 120~150% then. WD will use that to offset rebuilding costs. By "effects", they're right. We won't get September 2011 prices for a while, but prices will considerably cool down. While we now pay 200~300% of September's prices, we'll be paying about 120~150% then. WD will use that to offset rebuilding costs. Posted on Nov 26th 2011, 6:04 Reply