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Why are hard drives so pricey now?
- Thread starter skiltrip
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Depending on which model you bought, they're still $69 at some stores. You just have to shop around, as always.
There has been floods in South East Asia, which destroyed and damaged a lot of industries, thus the higher prices, as there is more demand than there is product.
Lots of computer components such as HDDs and RAM are commodities now and the price reflects availability and demand.
This is not new. Supply and demand laws dictate prices and most everything. The issue specific to hdd is due to the floods in Thailand and the loss of manufacturing capacity. Thus less supply, equal or more demand plus increased manufacturing costs equals higher prices. Thailand is recovering and manufacturing is returning. We should see prices continue to fall to preflood levels over the next few months.
^This. You don't even need to be a general news consumer to have known this, it's been reported on a few times on tech sites like this one because of the industry-wide effects it has/will have.
Also could've been a sale/deal and sounds like just one website. Look around, there's always a deal to have.
And here I thought that I was exempt from the drive shortage, but found out just a bit ago that my Time Capsule is back ordered.
they seem to be coming down in price now, i just got a samsung spinpoint 1TB for $119, i think that was only $10 more than the price at release
Not just hard drives. camera makers like nikon had a lot of manufacturing plants in Thailand and it severely hampered their ability to produce certain models of their cameras.
losing about 40% of the supply of a product will drive up the price
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Here's some related and current news about the hard drive shortage
http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/02/seagate-expects-flood-related-hard-drive-shortages-to-continue/
losing about 40% of the supply of a product will drive up the price
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's some related and current news about the hard drive shortage
http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/02/seagate-expects-flood-related-hard-drive-shortages-to-continue/
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I was thinking that's good for canon, but I believe they suffered some loss due to the earthquake/tsunami last year.
I believe Samsung drives are all built in Korea. I don't know why they would not raise the price to meet the demand in this market though.
I hope you do know that being assemble and being build is two different thing.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/02/seagate-expects-flood-related-hard-drive-shortages-to-continue/
I wonder why they concentrate so much manufacturing in an area prone to natural disasters? Why not disperse to have plants scattered or at least in safe areas?
The Sony NEX-5N and NEX-7 are in short supply for the most part and I think its because of the flooding.
Until the flooding started, I had no idea so many companies rely on Thailand for manufacturing
I am waiting for the Canon G1 X, and a few good reviews before I bite the bullet on a new camera. If it's reviews aren't superb, I will look elsewhere.
A good question, but it usually bold down to cost of labor, land rights, and the EPA sanctions in the areas (this is why lots of Semiconductor manufacturers moved out of California years ago, Silicon Valley used to be known for the Silicon made there, now it is mainly a design and engineering think tank due in part to the strict California emission laws and regulations as well as land and labor costs).