The Impact of Thai Flooding on HDDs

Published:2011/10/17 21:53:00 Author:Phyllis From:SeekIC

The massive flooding in Thailand over the past few weeks have disrupted production of electronics including hard disk drives with more than 200 factories have been closed due to flooding.

Before the Thai floods, it is predicted that 176.2 million hard drives were required during the fourth quarter, representing 25.9 percent of annual manufacturing in 2011. Because of the disaster, the fourth-quarter production is very much likely to decrease as 25 percent of the world’s HDDs are assembled in Thailand.

The world’s largest HDD manufacturer in terms of volume Western Digital Corp. (WD) and Toshiba Corp. have temporarily halted production of HDDs in Thailand, which impact a major portion of global hard drive manufacturing. Nikon, Pioneer and Sony reported supply disruption or water damage to their facilities.

Seagate relies on several sub assembly suppliers in Thailand, some of which had factories that were flooded or are shut down, due to lack of worker access. However, both facilities have remained operational following the disaster.

The floods, which have swept the country in the last two months, may have affected operations for the supplier of a key HDD component—the motor. Nidec Corp. supplies more than 70 percent of all global HDD motors, and all the major HDD manufacturers—including WDC, Seagate, Hitachi GST, Toshiba and Samsung—source motors from the company.

Hard disk drive suspension assembly maker Hutchinson Technology also temporarily suspended operations at its facilities in Ayutthaya due to the flooding and a loss of power. Hutchins said it plans to increase production output at its U.S. assembly operations and will use existing inventory to meet customer demand.

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