InfoAnda - Thai floods threaten Asia PC makers holiday sales |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

John Mellencamp and wife separate after 20 years | 31 December 2010
Chinese TV employees suspended for Tiananmen broadcast | 19 June 2009
Netflix shares surge as customer base grows | | 26 January 2012

Fujitsu commits to servers despite potential Sun deal | Technology | | 30 March 2009

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Thai floods threaten Asia PC makers holiday sales |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Green Business Legal Deals Earnings Summits Business Video Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia Afghan Journal Africa Journal India Insight Global News Journal Pakistan: Now or Never? World Video Politics Politics Home Front Row Washington Politics Video Technology Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland Felix Salmon Jack Shafer Breakingviews David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Gregg Easterbrook Nader Mousavizadeh James Saft David Cay Johnston Edward Hadas Christopher Whalen Ian Bremmer Mohamed El-Erian Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Newsmaker Money Money Home Analyst Research Global Investing MuniLand Reuters Money Blog John Wasik Unstructured Finance Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Life & Culture Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Left Field Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Article Comments (0) Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Obama to announce actions on housing, student loans 8:03am EDT Vatican calls for global authority on economy, raps “idolatry of the market” 9:08am EDT U.S. pulls its envoy from Syria because of threats 11:36am EDT Libya "liberated," but Gaddafi still unburied | 11:06am EDT Caterpillar sees record results amid slower economy 12:06pm EDT Discussed 200 Obama to announce help on housing, student loans 159 Gaddafi captured as he fled Sirte: NTC official 125 Strike shuts down Greece before austerity vote Watched Libya officially declares liberation. Sun, Oct 23 2011 The hunt for Gaddafi in 60 seconds Thu, Oct 20 2011 Hundreds feared dead in Turkey quake Sun, Oct 23 2011 Thai floods threaten Asia PC makers holiday sales Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Thailand shores up capital as waters creep higher Sun, Oct 23 2011 Thailand battles to defend capital from floods Sat, Oct 22 2011 Floods threaten Thai capital, scores killed in Myanmar Fri, Oct 21 2011 Instant view: Apple shocks investors with earns miss Tue, Oct 18 2011 Thai floods claim more factories, Bangkok safe for now Sun, Oct 16 2011 Analysis & Opinion Tech wrap: Basic phones lift Nokia to profit Floods meet faith — Thailand’s floods swamp Buddhist temples Related Topics Technology » Media » iPad » By Jonathan Standing and Argin Chang TAIPEI | Mon Oct 24, 2011 5:44am EDT TAIPEI (Reuters) - Asia's PC makers, already grappling with the prospect of subdued year-end holiday season consumer demand, are faced with a likely further slowdown in the lunar new year sales season as Thailand's floods cut the supply of hard disk drives. A likely shortage of the key component as floods threaten up to 30 percent of hard disk output could mean weak sales in the first quarter, hurting an industry already facing a challenge from smartphones and tablets such as Apple Inc's iPad and from slowing corporate spending on technology hardware. "From the Asia context, of course the impact will be on the Taiwan PC manufacturers, companies like Acer and Asustek Computer," said Satish Lele, vice president, consulting, Asia Pacific at Frost & Sullivan in Singapore. Thailand is the No. 2 maker of hard disk drives (HDD) after China and makes about half of global output taking place there, meaning damage caused by flooding could keep factories closed or hobbled for months, analysts and executives said. Lele said PC makers will have four to six weeks on average of inventory, but will feel the effects after that is gone. "From that context, the issue will start hitting these companies sometimes toward end of November and December, which for them are also key months because of the holiday season." Acer Inc declined to comment and Lenovo Group Ltd, the world's No.2 PC maker, had no immediate comment. World output of hard drives could fall as much as 30 percent in the final three months of 2011 and manufacturers that need them are now scrambling to snap up existing inventories, market research firm IHS iSuppli said. Pegatron Corp, the main contract manufacturer for Asustek Computer Inc, doesn't see a problem for six to eight weeks as makers have inventory, but after that it would depend on how fast things return to normal in Thailand. Pegatron Chief Financial Officer Charles Lin said there was one big difference between the Thailand situation and the aftermath of Japan's earthquake in March, which also disrupted supplies of components. "The concentration of some component manufacturing there was very high, but Thailand only makes up about a quarter of global hard disk production, so if plants elsewhere can ramp up, the effect this time may be less than that after the Japan quake," he said. Nick Wu, head of investor relations at Asustek, said the company's inventory and supply chain was enough to last until the end of the fourth quarter. But after that if the situation continued then there could be an impact. Top hard drive makers Western Digital and Seagate both have factories in Thailand. Western Digital's factories are closed and Seagate warned it could face parts shortages even though its plants are running. Analysts have highlighted Japan's Nidec Corp, which controls about 80 percent of the world's output of a key HDD component, as the major potential bottleneck for supplies of drives, used to store data in computers. Nidec has closed some plants in Thailand, as has disk parts maker Minebea. "With such a tight supply chain, it's very unlikely that people have a lot of stock to cover themselves," said Lillian Tay, analyst at Gartner in Singapore. "But from what we see, the major impact will come in Q1 because it's a 50-50 (situation). Some of them may not get what they want in Q4, but I think Q1 is really going to be the quarter that the most impact will be felt." SHORTAGE TO BITE Apple chief executive Tim Cook said last week he expects an industry shortage of disk drives. Nanya Technology Corp, Taiwan's No.2 DRAM chip maker, expects some impact from a shortage of hard disks. "Because notebooks all need hard disks, there will be an impact on the whole IT industry in November, December and into January, and this is a negative factor for DRAMs," Nanya Vice President Pei Lin Pai told reporters when the firm reported earnings last week. Taiwan's Quanta Computer Inc, the world's top contract laptop PC maker, and No.2 Compal Electronics Inc, said hard disks are 'confined components', meaning clients and not the contract makers procure them themselves. Both said they had not received any updates from clients. South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor Inc, the world's No.2 computer memory chip maker, said the flood had not had a major impact on it, given the current inventory levels at HDD makers and PC vendors. Other products have already been affected by the flooding, with Sony Corp delaying the launches of several new cameras, lens kits and headphones after production was halted. Frost & Sullivan's Lele said PC makers will also take a hit as they will have to bear the costs of the shortage. "It will be more for the PC makers to absorb the costs because it is highly unlikely that they can pass it on to the customer. They will be under tremendous pressure to absorb the additional costs." (Additional reporting by Lee Chyen Yee in HONG KONG, Hyun Joo Jin in SEOUL and Noel Randewich in SAN FRANCISCO; Editing by Anshuman Daga) Technology Media iPad Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Social Stream (What's this?) Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Contact Us Advertise With Us Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Monday, 24 October 2011
Matt Ryan runs, passes Falcons to 17-6 halftime lead over Lions
Yani romps: Tseng notches seventh win of season at Sunrise LPGA Taiwan
Tens of thousands rally against Hungarian government |
Won for Seve: Garcia dedicates Castello Masters victory to Ballesteros
Three killed in Yemen violence |
Shark kills American off Australian coast: police |
Ex-Olympus CEO says probe on fee falls short: AP |
Apple stock to jump 25 percent over next year: Barron's |
John Mayer recovering from throat surgery |
Paranormal 3 breaks records at weekend box office |
Noel Gallagher flies high at top of UK charts |
Turkey quake death toll reaches over 200, set to rise |
Argentine president strolls to re-election victory |
Holland tosses 8 1-3 innings of two-hit ball, Rangers level World Series 2-2
Newton collects touchdown run, pass as Panthers top slumping 'Skins
Grenade attack at Nairobi bar wounds 12: police |
Flying high: Falcons defense prevails in victory over Lions
Green Bay improves to 7-0 with win over pesky Vikings
Libya declares liberation, Gaddafi stays unburied |
Balotelli sparks Manchester City to dominant win against Manchester United
No military trainers after U.S. troop pullout, says Maliki
Israel Asserts Control Over East Jerusalem Textbooks
Analysis: U.S. talks up Pakistan role in Afghan peace talks |
Lack of education hinders Arab economies
Major earthquake strikes eastern Turkey; Hundreds feared dead
Japan contractor hacking likely got military data: Asahi |
Tunisia counts votes after first Arab Spring election |
China urges North Korea to build on U.S. dialogue |
Seoul vote eyed closely as test run for national |
FBI reportedly probes Olympus fee; shares tumble |
Saudi Telecom plans acquisitions in 2012 |
TomTom to cut 50 million euros in costs as Q3 sales fall |
Jobs abrasive style drove some people away: biographer |
Paranormal 3 breaks records at weekend box office |
Magic Tree House film premieres in Japan |
Amputees still waiting for reparations almost 10 years on
UK parliament recalls James Murdoch over hacking |
U.S. Iraqi pullout whets Iranian appetite for trouble
Tunisians celebrate elections, worry what follows
U.S. and North Korea start talks in Geneva |
New fed rules to aid more underwater homeowners
MLB considering banning alcohol from clubhouses
Prince's death sets challenge to ageing Saudi royals |
"Paranormal 3" scares off rivals at box office
Libya national council head sees new government in two weeks |
Canucks acquire Booth, Reinprecht from Panthers
WikiLeaks halts publication to raise money
Who rules the range?
Failing law leaves children unprotected in Somaliland
Analysis: Kenya risks rallying support for Somali rebels |
Beijing's growing pains mirror global population boom |
WikiLeaks says blockade threatens its existence |
Thai floods threaten Asia PC makers holiday sales |
New app aims to reduce stress with slow breathing |
Google, PE firms mull bid for Yahoo: report |
Country singer Loretta Lynn in hospital with pneumonia |
Arab films showcase turbulent, redemptive year |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01