HDD crisis was 'fake' ?

[Azarobi]

Hard drive manufacturers Seagate Technology and Western Digital have reported great financial results after such a prolonged hard disk drive “crisis.”

There was always talk about the fact that hard disk drives are so cheap, that the profitability of the manufacturers is getting low enough to limit the R&D investments they would otherwise make.

Many industry insiders were talking about overstocking and lowering profits. The situation was bleak.

One year ago, Samsung wanted to get rid of their HDD division, despite the fact that the products developed there were quite good. The F1 and F3 lines of desktop HDD are very good performers to this day, and they’ve been since way back in 2008.

Seagate jumped at the opportunity and snatched Samsung’s hard drive division for almost 2 billion dollars, back in April 2011.

Hitachi was also doing quite alright. They had good mobile HDDs and the very successful 1000.C hard disk drive line that excelled when dealing with multi-threaded work. Still, the marketplace for HDDs was so difficult that they’ve announced they’ll be selling their hard drive division to Western Digital.

The Thailand flood came and went and we were left with the hard drive “crisis”. While the hard drives were almost never “out of stock” the prices increased even by 300%.

Full article here http://news.softpedia.com/news/HDD-C...s-266676.shtml

Interesting read that raises a few questions. In fact i felt a bit annoyed after reading it. Are these two giants ripping us off or what ?

[k1net1cs]

If there's anyone ripping you off it's more like the retailers rather than manufacturers.
As if you didn't find it strange they suddenly more than doubled the price even when they're (usually) still having stock for the next three months or so without having to buy them from manufacturers after the flood.

You also have to take into account OEM builders like Dell or HP.
Seagate and/or WD probably shifted their stocks to keep a healthy supply to them, which may also contribute the availability to retailers at a minimum.
Or did you never wonder why external drives and/or OEM systems don't really get a steep price hike despite the HDD prices soaring above 200% level?

Also, try getting Enterprise-grade drives like SAS drives a few months after the flood.
There's just next to nothing in stock.

As for their profits, it's probably due to OEM builders overstocking on HDDs for risk management reasons, and/or manufacturers charging more to retailers for its scarce stock (to retailers).
When people are faced with uncertainties regarding the stock of something that's vital, people tend to hoard even when the price is steep.
There are also cases when people just had to buy some due to HDD failures and such.

So, that article?
For me, it's nothing more than a view-baiting crap rather than a critical view on things.

[IPlayNaked]

Written by someone who has no clue what they're talking about for people who don't know any better.

1. Seagate was largely unaffected by the floor, as they were on higher ground.
2. Factories covered in water will ****ing affect their output.
3.

The Thailand flood came and went and we were left with the hard drive “crisis”. While the hard drives were almost never “out of stock” the prices increased even by 300%.

4. Do you think WD got a bunch of hoses and flooded the country? No, come on.

This is the dumbest ****ing quote of the entire thing and, quite frankly, its outright embarrassing that there are people in the world that don't immediately realize this is completely BS.

The reason the items didn't go completely out of stock is BECAUSE PRICES WERE ALLOWED TO RISE. The market was allowed to handle itself. Yes, this results in larger margins for manufacturers, but it also results in items staying available to those who need them most.

The alternative would have been to freeze the prices, at which point it would be almost impossible to find a hard disk.

Can't believe someone would even post something like this. And then, have the gall to say they feel "annoyed" after reading it. Annoyed at what, the sky? Cause that's where the water came from.

It's a simple ****ing thing:

Did WD cover the country in water?

Was the WD factory covered in water?

Is hard drive output affected by underwater assembly?

If you answer all these questions like a sane human, with a mind, then you'll realize this article was written for geniuses to link it to everyone.

[Pill Monster]

I believe the crisis was real for some, but I also think Seagate took advantage of the situation.

I don't have the exact numbers, but Seagate's profit margins skyrocketed during the flood period; to me that does not sound like a company faced with a stock shortage.

[k1net1cs]

Originally Posted by Pill Monster

I don't have the exact numbers, but Seagate's profit margins skyrocketed during the flood period; to me that does not sound like a company faced with a stock shortage.

Like I said, people tend to hold themselves a bit from buying anything that's considered vital if the stock is known to be always available.
When the stock is in an uncertainty, people tend to hoard them regardless of price, a.k.a. buying in more quantities than normal.
(I'm talking about OEM builders, by the way)
Which is probably why Seagate and WD scored significant revenue, and they'd still do even if they didn't really change the price from before the flood.

[scheherazade]

There's only so many drives being made, across all manufacturers.

If WD ran out, Segate would have to supply everyone, and then Segate would run out too.

If WD raised prices by itself, and Segate did not raise prices, then everyone would buy Segate, and Segate would run out.
At which point the low-inventory+high-price WD would be the only option left, and they would run out.

Everyone has to raise their prices if you want to avoid running out.



"Selling less for more money = more profits" is no secret.

-scheherazade

[Azarobi]

IPLaynaked, sheez man cool down. I just shared an article, not steal your dog.

[nyrmetros]

So the days of relatively cheap HD's are over ??

[Chillin]

Originally Posted by nyrmetros

So the days of relatively cheap HD's are over ??

They are coming back already but this time with cheap as hell SSD's to join them.

[jhelsas]

Originally Posted by Chillin

They are coming back already but this time with cheap as hell SSD's to join them.

Is this so?
Today the $/GB in SSD is what ? 16x, 8x the ones for HDD?

I don't think you can call that cheap, so, I would ask, when would the $/GB for the SSDs reach the same, or at most the double of the one for HDD?

[PhazeDelta1]

The HDD scare worked at intended.

[Chillin]

Originally Posted by jhelsas

Is this so?
Today the $/GB in SSD is what ? 16x, 8x the ones for HDD?

I don't think you can call that cheap, so, I would ask, when would the $/GB for the SSDs reach the same, or at most the double of the one for HDD?

Not going to happen due to the fundamental differences between each.

It's like asking for a jet engine to cost the same as a car engine because at the end of the day they are just both engine.

[clawhamer]

Originally Posted by jhelsas

Is this so?
Today the $/GB in SSD is what ? 16x, 8x the ones for HDD?

I don't think you can call that cheap, so, I would ask, when would the $/GB for the SSDs reach the same, or at most the double of the one for HDD?

Originally Posted by Chillin

Not going to happen due to the fundamental differences between each.

It's like asking for a jet engine to cost the same as a car engine because at the end of the day they are just both engine.

Chillin makes an excellent point here.


…and for those who missed Hilbert’s SSD review.

"To those of you that complain continuously about prices well my advice is simple really; stop looking at the Solid State Disk technology as if it where a HDD. It will never reach the same prices or top the multiple TB volume storage the HDD offers for less money. Comparing an SSD with an HDD is making a comparison in-between an integrated IGP or a dedicated graphics card, that last one will cost you a heck of a lot more yet you gain incredible performance to get your gaming freak on."

source

And yes, prices have come down a lot… especially for 120gb and lower models.

[Aura89]

Originally Posted by clawhamer

…and for those who missed Hilbert’s SSD review.

"To those of you that complain continuously about prices well my advice is simple really; stop looking at the Solid State Disk technology as if it where a HDD. It will never reach the same prices or top the multiple TB volume storage the HDD offers for less money. Comparing an SSD with an HDD is making a comparison in-between an integrated IGP or a dedicated graphics card, that last one will cost you a heck of a lot more yet you gain incredible performance to get your gaming freak on."

That quote doesn't make any sense, he just compared something where getting extra speed means less storage space to something that where getting extra speed you get less.....nothing?

talking about apples and oranges he compared apples and oranges right there, there's nothing to compare

and SSD's job is to one day (hopefully) get rid of the need of HDD's, IGP vs Dedicated is not, again apples and oranges, so yes, comparing SSD's and HDD's is what is supposed to happen, and once SSD's get large enough and cheap enough, HDD's will be no more for the simple reason of not needing them, SSD's out do HDD's in every department except cost, space, and life

[Virtue]

Originally Posted by Aura89

and life

elaborate?

[automaticman]

I think it's a lot like gas prices, now that the manufacturers know that consumers will pay higher prices, they don't have incentive to lower the prices back to where they were before.