Hard drive prices hit the roof

Sam Varghese
Monday, 21 November 2011 15:54

Your IT - Home IT

Hard drive prices have soared in the wake of the floods in Thailand, with the cost more than doubling.

Factories in Thailand provide drives or drive components for most of the world's markets. Both Western Digital and Toshiba have halted operations in the country while Seagate's production is being hampered by a shortage of components.

In Melbourne, prices at the computer swap meets have risen sharply.

Vendors at Sunday's meets were selling 1TB drives for $140 while 2TB drive prices were in the region of $180.

The swap meet vendors are mostly sole traders and have lower overheads as they operate from their homes, with the weekly stall at the swap meet often being their one public point of sale.

One vendor, Lily Li, who runs her own business, InfoDigital, from her home in Box Hill North, said that before the floods affected supply, she had been able to sell a 1TB drive for $60 and a 2TB drive for $80 to $85.

"All brands have gone up in price," she said. "I only hope that we continue to get supplies as Christmas is a good time from the point of view of sales."

MSY, a retail outlet that is reputed to have the lowest prices in Melbourne, has Western Digital 1TB drives listed on its website today for $149 while a 2TB drive of the same brand is $189.

Computer & Parts Land, another well-known retail outlet in Melbourne, has the WD 1TB drives listed for $195 while the 2TB drive is $165.

The shortage of drives is expected to continue well into 2012.