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After more than a month of flooding, the news from the major HDD manufacturers this week is that things are beginning to improve. It’s taken some time for the cleanup to get going, but hopefully some good news is on the way.

Western Digital has begun bringing one of its factories online again in Bang Pa-in (BPI), Thailand. The ramp took place a week ahead of its internal schedule. Submerged equipment at the BPI facility has been removed and taken offsite for cleaning and refurbishment.

Production at WD’s Navanakorn facility remains suspended — that facility is still under two feet of water — but should be pumped dry within ten days. Western Digital expects to take a $225-$275M hit related to the flood. This will be partly offset by higher-than-usual gross margins, but WD’s net income for this quarter in fiscal 2010 was $225 million. The estimated flood costs will be a heavy blow, particularly after the $525M judgement levied against the company in its ongoing dispute with Seagate.

Toshiba, meanwhile, remains mostly underwater. There’s already been some speculation that the company may look to sell its HDD business in the wake of the floods, but the manufacturer is waiting to evaluate the condition of its plants before issuing any guidance.

As for consumer HDD prices, it’s too early to say things are moving downwards, but at the very least, they haven’t gotten any worse. We see some very modest declines this time around, with prices on a few models edging down 5-8%. We had to remove one of our USB 3.0 externals after Seagate stopped shipping it, but USB drives remain a better option for low-cost storage.

SSD adoption is expected to rise as a result of the HDD price jumps, but if that’s happening, it isn’t having an impact on consumer SSD prices. SSD prices have remained stable throughout this saga, which implies that if manufacturers are ramping up production to meet increased demand, they’re doing it without impacting their retail products.

Despite early cleanups, WD still forecasts shortages persisting through Q1 and it could take prices even longer to return to normal.

Read the previous editions of ExtremeTech’s HDD Pricewatch