The global supply of hard disks is likely to be short by 35 per cent in the final quarter of 2011, according to Taiwanese tech site DigiTimes The site's sources - Taiwanese manufacturers in the PC supply chain - predict that supply will drop to 110-130 million units, compared with demand fir 180 million. The Thailand floods continue to have a huge impact on the supply of hard disk components, which has seen global shortages and sky-high prices.Some of DigiTimes' sources are relatively optimistic that the shortages will ease in first-quarter 2012. However, others estimate that the easing won't occur until the second quarter. However, many believe the hard drive industry will take up to two years before normal production is completely restored, meaning PC vendors will have to face increased hard disk costs in 2012.Prices have tripled in some cases, with the once great-value 1TB Samsung F3 out of stock in many places and retailing for up to £100 at others. The price hikes have also seen many retailers report an increase in the sales of SSDs, as the price of popular hard disks rises to similar levels as 64GB and 128GB solid state models.Have you been affected by hard disk prices? Have you opted for an SSD instead? Let us know in the forum