HDD Market Continues to Struggle, Growth to Resume in Q3

The market for hard disk drives continues to be defined by overly high prices and insufficient supply, symptoms that aren't going to be healed until the later parts of this year (2012).

People have heard or read repeatedly about how the hard disk drive unit market is in dire straits and how it will continue to be in this situation for months.

Nevertheless, hope lives on in the heart of man, which means that people still wish someone would find a solution sooner.

Alas, according to analysts, this is not going to happen after all.

IHS iSuppli yet again risked a glance at the worldwide state of the HDD market and found that the consequences of the Thai floods, which hit HDD makers hard, persist.

Global shipments will be lower, on-year, both in Q1 and Q2, and even the third quarter won't return anything but a minor increase in shipments, if it does at all.

Right now, the analysts are optimistic enough to project a rise of 2% for the July-September period.

Still, on a sequential basis, things are turning around, with the second quarter expected to lead to a rise of 13%, even if it is only owed to the massive drop of 29% of Q1.

“The recovery of global HDD manufacturing has begun and will continue during each quarter of 2012,” said Fang Zhang, storage analyst for IHS.

“However, the recovery will be prolonged for at least two more quarters, as supply constraints keep unit shipments from climbing on an annual basis until third quarter. Meanwhile, HDD prices will remain inflated and inventories will continue to be depleted, showing that demand is exceeding supply. Supply and demand should return to balance by the end of the third quarter.”

In an effort to cope with the latest woes, HDD companies have cut the warranties on some of their product series.