Hi All, Just passing this along, as I thought some might be interested in the article that explains the rising cost of harddrives.
With Best Regards, Alan Miami, Florida ----- Original Message ----- From: Carlos To: BlindGeekZone Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 11:15 AM Subject: [BlindGeekZone] NetApp The Latest To Increase Hard Drive Prices Due To Thailand Floods NetApp The Latest To Increase Hard Drive Prices Due To Thailand Floods Source: http://www.crn.com/news/storage/232301388/netapp-the-latest-to-increase-hard-drive-prices-due-to-thailand-floods.htm;jsessionid=nwbKTBYOe6xe0ztiPvfYvA**.ecappj02 By Joseph F. Kovar, CRN January 06, 2012 10:28 AM ET NetApp Thursday became the latest major storage vendor to officially raise hard drive prices in the wake of the Thailand floods. NetApp Thursday night posted a notice on its Web site saying it is temporarily raising hard drive list prices by between 5 percent and 15 percent effective Feb. 6. The move, according to NetApp, was necessary due to increased hard drive costs in the wake of severe floods in Thailand that wiped out nearly one-third of the world's hard drive manufacturing capacity. NetApp's planned price increases follows similar moves by rivals EMC (NYSE: EMC) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), both of which said in December that they plan to raise hard drive prices by up to 15 percent, according to multiple news reports, including Computer Business Review. In its statement, NetApp said it empathizes with Thailand citizens who are trying to recover from the floods and that it is working with hard drive suppliers to secure the drives to meet its needs. "However, similar to other vendors we have seen a negative impact to our drive costs. While we initially absorbed the cost increases to protect our partners and customers, we are no longer able to do so. Effective February 6, 2012, we will be temporarily increasing HDD list prices 5 -15% over current pricing. We will continue to monitor the situation as it evolves and will provide updates as appropriate. Thank you for your continued partnership," NetApp said in the statement. HP declined to offer specific information on its hard drive pricing plans. However, in a statement e-mailed to CRN, HP wrote, "Given the uncertainty associated with the situation, HP expects there to be continued headwinds related to the flooding in Thailand, affecting hard disk drive (HDD) supply and pricing by our suppliers, which may have a temporary impact on HP's pricing of HDDs. HP is in constant communication with our employees, clients and suppliers to optimize business continuity and actively manage this dynamic situation." EMC declined to comment on hard drive prices, citing the quiet period before it announces its next quarterly financial results on Jan. 24 . However, an EMC spokesperson did confirm that EMC early this quarter raised its hard drive list prices by 5 percent to 15 percent over last year's fourth-quarter prices. Dell (NSDQ: Dell) did not respond to inquiries about its hard drive pricing plans. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] __._,_.___ Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic Messages in this topic (1) Recent Activity: a.. New Members 1 Visit Your Group -- Owner: Rick Harmon Website Address: http://www.blind-geek-zone.net Blog Address: http://www.blind-geek-zone.blogspot.com Group Email Addresses: Post message: blindgeekz...@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: blindgeekzone-subscr...@yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: blindgeekzone-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com List owner: blindgeekzone-ow...@yahoogroups.com Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest . Unsubscribe . Terms of Use. __,_._,___ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/