WD and Seagate Say Q1 2012 Will Be When HDDs Recover

Though some are still pessimistic about the prospects on the HDD market, a ray of sunshine, pale though it is, has broken through the winter clouds, or is expected to do so soon enough.

The hard disk drive shortage is one thing on the IT market that has been closely monitored by companies and market watchers alike.

After all, when floods manage to effectively stop more than half of the constant flow of storage units, alarms start blaring.

At least the newest report from Digitimes is a tad bit more promising than previous information on the matter.

The first quarter of 2012 is when hard disk drive unit supply rises from 110 million to 120 million.

That should reduce the supply gap from 30-35% (during Q4, 2011) to 17-18%. Also, Seagate and WD have increased their shipment forecasts for October-December, which means things are improving.

Nidec has, so far, returned to 80% capacity (it makes HDD motors for most units on today's market).

Western Digital isn't doing so hot, what with its own facilities directly struck by the flooding. Only small parts of its Thai operations have been restored.

While the company will eventually recover completely (provided no other floods happen), it won't be sooner than March.

As for Seagate, it wasn't affected at all (or at least almost) so it really only had worries because Nidec, and other component suppliers, had been affected.

All in all, the restoration of the regular product manufacture and delivery flow is getting better at a quicker rate than expected.

There are still those who think the shortage will be felt all throughout next year, though, and they could very well be right.

Finally, while HDD supply may be on the mend, prices have already skyrocketed, some models selling for double or even triple prices and their cheapening might very well be slower than their jump.