(Nikkei BP Group)
(No.1 High-Tech News Site in Japanese)
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| Notebook Computer Hard Disk Drives in Short Supply
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September 16, 1998 (TAIPEI) -- Notebook computer hard disk drives reportedly
are in short supply in Japan and the United States.
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IBM Corp., which supplied 40 percent of notebook disk drives in the first
half of this year, said the rapid replacement of new products and production
deficiencies were factors behind the short supply.
Hitachi Ltd. and Fujitsu Ltd. of Japan also reported shortages of key
components, but they said they expect the situation to moderate in the
fourth quarter.
The supply of 2-in. hard disk drives was especially erratic this year.
IBM, which supplied 50 percent of demand to domestic OEM makers, confirmed
the situation.
An IBM Taiwan spokesman said the shortage started in April, when the
company was still overcoming technical difficulties related to producing
GMR disk drives.
In the second quarter of this year, IBM supplied 70 percent of disk drive
demand to domestic OEM contractors, indicating that there was a 30 percent
undersupply in the second quarter and 20 percent deficiency in the third
quarter.
The company said it expects the situation to return to normal in the
fourth quarter.
Both Fujitsu and Hitachi experienced shortages in the third quarter of
one of the key components for disk drives.
The situation is not expected to return to normal until November.
The fall in disk drive prices will continue despite the shortfalls, an
IBM spokesman said.
By contrast, there was an oversupply of desktop hard disk drives in the
first half, forcing many makers to cut production capacity. Seagate,
for instance, was forced to restructure operations.
(Commercial Times, Taiwan)
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