Thursday, October 27, 2011

Re: [Avid-L2] Hard Drive Shortages to Drive Up Cost of Video Editing

And if for some reason anybody feels guilty about taking advantage of this advance notice you can always donate the difference to the Red Cross. ;-)

James


On Oct 27, 2011, at 1:52 PM, Gary Bettan wrote:

> WHOA! Not trying to downplay the human impact here at all. Earthquakes &
> flood devestation is nothing to make light of.
>
> What I'm trying to do is let Video Editors know that hard drive production
> shortages are hitting and the impact on prices is going to be felt almost
> immediately. If you're planning on buying storage in the near future, jump
> on todays availability and pricing.
>
> Gary
>
> _____
>
> From: Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
> bouke
> Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2011 4:41 PM
> To: Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [Avid-L2] Hard Drive Shortages to Drive Up Cost of Video
> Editing
>
> how should i read this, other peoples misery is nothing compared to the
> added markup on our bills to our clients?
> No, i did not read your blog, but since you put out the short version here,
> please explain to me what i've missed, so i don't have to call you a
> heartless SOB.
>
> Bouke
>
> VideoToolShed
> van Oldenbarneveltstraat 33
> 6512 AS NIJMEGEN
> The Netherlands
> +31 24 3553311
> www.videotoolshed.com
> For large files:
> http://dropbox.yousendit.com/BoukeVahl998172
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Gary Bettan" <gary@videoguys.com <mailto:gary%40videoguys.com> >
> To: <Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com <mailto:Avid-L2%40yahoogroups.com> >
> Cc: <FinalCutPro-L@yahoogroups.com <mailto:FinalCutPro-L%40yahoogroups.com>
> >
> Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2011 10:15 PM
> Subject: [Avid-L2] Hard Drive Shortages to Drive Up Cost of Video Editing
>
> > Over the past year the hard drive producers have been hit by a one-two
> > punch
> > that has them scrambling to find ways to produce enough hard drives to
> > satisfy demand. Hard drives prices are expected to jump up by 20% or more
> > over the next week, with no end in sight.
> >
> > Back in March the Japanese earthquake and Tsunami created massive supply
> > chain issues. While no hard drive production facilities were directly
> > effected, several plants that produced key components such as circuit
> > boards
> > were destroyed. This created spot shortages in the drive business while
> > hard
> > drive manufacturers had to scramble to work around these issues. It
> > appeared that the worst was over and that by the end of the year,
> > production
> > would be back up.
> >
> > Then this October another natural disaster struck Asia. Thailand has been
> > hit by massive flooding. Thailand as a country is the second-largest
> > manufacturer of drives in the world. Western Digital, Hitachi, Seagate,
> > Toshiba and Samsung all have a significant portion of their production
> > coming out of Thailand. Thailand has ground to a halt. It could take
> > another
> > 4-6 weeks until the flood waters recede. While most of the finished goods
> > were pulled out in time, the same can't be said for the facilities
> > themselves.
> >
> > Over the past week we have been talking to our drive vendors and the news
> > is
> > bad, really bad. Hard drives assembly lines are modern marvels, with
> > automation, robotics and extremely expensive machines working in highly
> > controlled environments. Some factories are wiped out, others have severe
> > water damage. Attempts to move equipment and assembly lines to higher
> > ground resulted in damages that may or may not be repairable. Key parts
> > suppliers have been hit just as hard, Nidec Corp which makes hard drive
> > motors had one of their Ayutthaya plant (pictured) swamped under several
> > feet of water. It's a mess, and some are expecting supply to fall as much
> > as 35% below forecast - which in this day and age of computerized just in
> > time manufacturing, equals demand.
> >
> > How does this effect video editors?
> >
> > Right in your pocketbook. While there are some supplies of drives already
> > in
> > the US, we've been told by our vendors across the board to expect major
> > shortages and higher prices in Q4. How much higher you ask? We don't know
> > yet, but the impact will be felt initially in lower capacity drives. For
> > us
> > that means that external RAIDs based on 1TB drives are going to get hit
> > first. We've had problems getting 2TB G-RAIDs since the summer, we were
> > able
> > to get 2TB GT062E RAIDs from Glyph, but now that supply has dried up. At
> > this point we are pulling both Glyph and G-Tech 2TB external RAIDs from
> > our
> > website - indefinitely.
> >
> > While it looks like we'll be able to get RAIDs based on 2TB and 3TB
> > drives,
> > that too will become problematic over the next 4-6 weeks. If you are
> > planning on purchasing an external RAID solution for your NLE system, do
> > it
> > NOW! Take advantage of whatever pricing and availability exists in the
> > market. Prices will move up without notice as supply fails to keep up with
> > demand.
> >
> > For the complete blog post http://bit.ly/sMoZCR
> >
> > Gary
> >
> >
> >
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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