A shortage of hard disk drives (HDD) caused by the recent flooding in Thailand is expected to cut global PC shipments by about 4 million units in the fourth quarter, with desktop shipments experiencing the most severe blow, a researcher said.
Desktop PCs are expected to account for 80 percent of the reduced shipments, -DRAMeXchange, a research arm of TrendForce Corp (集邦科技), said in a report last week.
That means desktop shipments would plunge by 15 percent in the fourth quarter, instead of its earlier forecast of just 5 percent, the Taipei-based researcher said.
The shortage of HDDs for notebooks started in the middle of last month — right after the traditional peak month of October — leading to a likely shipment decline of 3.7 percent for the fourth quarter, the researcher said, slightly up from its earlier forecast of a 3.4 percent drop.
Thailand produces about one-third of global HDDs and main players, such as Western Digital Corp, Toshiba Corp, Hitachi Ltd and Seagate Technology PLC, had their facilities impacted by the floods.
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), the world’s No. 5 PC brand, has said it expects the HDD shortage to become more serious in the first quarter of next year. It said supplies have been secured for the current quarter and therefore the impact so far has been minimal.
According to DRAMeXchange, overall notebook HDD supply and demand may return to normal in the first quarter next year at the earliest, while desktop hard drives would only start seeing relief from the second quarter.
This is because HDD makers in other countries, including China, the Philippines and Malaysia, have ramped up capacity to make up for lower output in Thailand.
However, US-based consultancy and research firm IHS iSuppli predicted earlier this month that there could be an excess of HDDs next year when Thailand’s facilities are operating at full capacity.
“Ironically, the HDD market could face an inventory surplus by the end of 2012 after facilities in Thailand return to full production. When combined with the added production outside the country, the recovery in Thailand’s HDD operations could result in excess supply,” it said.
IHS predicted that worldwide PC shipments in the first quarter of next year would amount to 84.2 million units, down 11.6 percent from 95.3 million units in the fourth quarter of this year.
CHIP RACE: Three years of overbroad export controls drove foreign competitors to pursue their own AI chips, and ‘cost US taxpayers billions of dollars,’ Nvidia said China has figured out the US strategy for allowing it to buy Nvidia Corp’s H200s and is rejecting the artificial intelligence (AI) chip in favor of domestically developed semiconductors, White House AI adviser David Sacks said, citing news reports. US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he would allow shipments of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China, part of an administration effort backed by Sacks to challenge Chinese tech champions such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為) by bringing US competition to their home market. On Friday, Sacks signaled that he was uncertain about whether that approach would work. “They’re rejecting our chips,” Sacks
NATIONAL SECURITY: Intel’s testing of ACM tools despite US government control ‘highlights egregious gaps in US technology protection policies,’ a former official said Chipmaker Intel Corp has tested chipmaking tools this year from a toolmaker with deep roots in China and two overseas units that were targeted by US sanctions, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Intel, which fended off calls for its CEO’s resignation from US President Donald Trump in August over his alleged ties to China, got the tools from ACM Research Inc, a Fremont, California-based producer of chipmaking equipment. Two of ACM’s units, based in Shanghai and South Korea, were among a number of firms barred last year from receiving US technology over claims they have
BARRIERS: Gudeng’s chairman said it was unlikely that the US could replicate Taiwan’s science parks in Arizona, given its strict immigration policies and cultural differences Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登), which supplies wafer pods to the world’s major semiconductor firms, yesterday said it is in no rush to set up production in the US due to high costs. The company supplies its customers through a warehouse in Arizona jointly operated by TSS Holdings Ltd (德鑫控股), a joint holding of Gudeng and 17 Taiwanese firms in the semiconductor supply chain, including specialty plastic compounds producer Nytex Composites Co (耐特) and automated material handling system supplier Symtek Automation Asia Co (迅得). While the company has long been exploring the feasibility of setting up production in the US to address
OPTION: Uber said it could provide higher pay for batch trips, if incentives for batching is not removed entirely, as the latter would force it to pass on the costs to consumers Uber Technologies Inc yesterday warned that proposed restrictions on batching orders and minimum wages could prompt a NT$20 delivery fee increase in Taiwan, as lower efficiency would drive up costs. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi made the remarks yesterday during his visit to Taiwan. He is on a multileg trip to the region, which includes stops in South Korea and Japan. His visit coincided the release last month of the Ministry of Labor’s draft bill on the delivery sector, which aims to safeguard delivery workers’ rights and improve their welfare. The ministry set the minimum pay for local food delivery drivers at
RSS