Thailand flooding may cause HDD global shortage

PanARMENIAN.Net - Western Digital said its primary manufacturing facility in Thailand was flooded over the weekend, with its secondary site also at risk, raising the possibility of a global shortage of hard disk drives (HDD) in the current quarter.

The company said Monday, October 17, that it has decided to extend the suspension of its operations in the country announced last week.

Flooding has killed over 290 people in Thailand since July, according to reports.

The floods in Thailand, the second largest exporter of hard disk drives after China, could potentially lead to a shortage of HDD supplies during the current quarter that may last into the first quarter of 2012, said research firm IHS iSuppli on Monday.

Besides Western Digital, the largest maker of hard disk drives by volume by iSuppli estimates, Toshiba has also halted production in Thailand. The Japanese company has extended closure of its semiconductor and storage devices factories in Thailand, with a review expected later on Tuesday.

Western Digital said it expects that the flooding of its Thailand facilities, combined with flood damage to its supply chain in Thailand, will have a significant impact on the company's overall operations and its ability to meet customer demand for its products in the December quarter.

It said it will provide further updates on the situation during an investor call on Wednesday. In the quarter to July 1, Western Digital shipped about 54 million hard drives from its facilities in Thailand and Malaysia, with about 60 percent coming from its sites in Thailand, IDG News Service reported.