14 DAY TRIAL // Hard disk drives continue to be too expensive compared to last year, but there is some hope that things will improve, even if only slightly, by the end of this month (April, 2012).
Currently, 500 GB hard drive units sell for roughly $75 on average, or 56.23 Euro according to exchange rates.
In other words, their prices are a steal compared to this time last year, and even compared to late 2011 too.
We also can't help but feel that makers of such storage devices are putting a bit too much effort into milking the Thai flood for all it's worth.
Sure, supply was tight for a while, but reports made it clear that the shortage has already been overcome, to an extent.
In other words, HDDs still have a cause to be more expensive than usual, but not to the current levels.
In this context, the latest report from Digitimes is a minor consolation at best, but we'll summarize it anyway.
According to industry sources, whoever they are, pricing for HDDs will decrease by around 10% at the end of April.
Considering that certain retailers still offer models for 200% of their pre-flood price, the difference will be minor.
All we can hope is that the measly 10% will be the domino piece that sends the tags tumbling back down to their normal levels. If that fails to happen, we can't see how global demand will go back to normal.
Speaking of which, HDD firms believe that, even if prices never go back down to what they used to be, demand will go back to its regular state once Windows 8 shows up and gives people a reason to buy new PCs.
Finally, even though global supply will return to 170-180 million by the third quarter, prices will stay at a higher level than in late 2011 because of rising component costs. Add to that the debt problems in Europe and the US and there isn't much chance for a boost in sales this year.