UK storage resellers report advanced purchases

Origin Storage says major corporates are planning ahead in the face of possible hard drive shortages

UK resellers are reporting incidents of customers advancing their storage purchases in anticipation of possible product shortages.

End users are planning ahead for their storage needs for the rest of the year as prices of hard-drive components soar in the wake of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, according to VAR Origin Storage.

Origin Storage managing director Andy Cordial said: "We are already seeing major corporates advancing their storage purchases as they plan ahead for rising prices in the face of a possible hard drive shortage."

Cordial said prices of magnetic sub-strata and other essential hard-drive components, such as motors, are rising as SFD, TDK and Kobe Steel are among the manufacturers known to be experiencing production plant issues.

"All of this means that the big four hard drive players – Samsung, Seagate, Toshiba and Western Digital/Hitachi – will see their component prices rise in the short term, a situation that translates to higher prices and stock shortages at the sharp end," he said.

Cordial added that solid state drive prices could also be pushed up despite prices having fallen steadily over the last two years.