Floods: Computer shortage looming

Flood-damage to factories likely to reduce supply of hard disk drives & PCs through June 2012. Greater access for larger PC vendors predicted.

Click button to listen to Computer Shortage Looming and the Floods to download

PC shortage looming through H1 next year: Big manufacturers will recover first

Thailand's widespread flooding will have a direct impact on worldwide personal computer shipments through the first half of 2012, according to a report by International Data Corporation (IDC). 

With operations disrupted at more than a dozen hard disk drive (HDD) factories, damage to the HDD industry is significant, the industry research group said.

In the first half of 2011, Thailand accounted for 40-45% of worldwide HDD production. As of early November, nearly half of this capacity was directly affected by the flooding. 

"While IDC believes HDD industry participants will recover and restore production capacity relatively quickly, supply will remain constrained for an extended period of time," IDC wrote. 

As a result, it said, PC vendors should plan for and expect significant HDD shortages continuing into the first quarter of next year. 

It noted that a large part of PC production for shipment in the fourth quarter of 2011 had already taken place or could be completed with existing HDD inventories, limiting the impact on PC shipments to less than 10% in the current quarter. "But in a worst-case scenario, total PC shipments could be depressed by more than 20% in the first quarter of 2012 versus previous forecasts."

Higher HDD prices are expected in the near term as demand exceeds supply and manufacturers face increased costs for components, expedited shipments and shifting of production elsewhere.

As the HDD industry begins to recover in the first quarter next year, pricing should stabilise by June, with the industry running close to normal in the second half of next year. 

One trend IDC has predicted is that larger PC vendors will have an opportunity to capture enterprise accounts from smaller competitors, which could accelerate industry consolidation.

In response to the crisis, priority will be given to the large PC manufacturers that drive HDD shipment volumes, as well as to the high-margin products used in enterprise servers and storage," said John Rydning, IDC's research vice-president for HDD and semiconductors. 

The PC market in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan could feel a more pronounced impact than other regions, given the large number of basic PCs sold in the region, said Bryan Ma, associate vice-president for client devices research at IDC Asia Pacific.

However, he said, larger PC vendors that can get their hands on HDD supplies could have an opportunity to gain more market share in the process.

"Local PC consumption in Thailand has another set of challenges, ranging from logistics and distribution to government budgets, but the market there has also shown an ability to rebound quickly, which we hope will happen by the second half of next year," he added.

(Source: Bangkok Post, PC shortage looming through H1 next year, Big manufacturers will recover first, 12/11/2011, link)

Computer Hardware Industry

computer hardware - the parts and components such RAM memory, hard disk drive, motherboard and CPU which are assembled together and placed in a computer case to create a computer "upon which system software is installed including a firmware interface such as a BIOS and an operating system which supports application software that performs the operator's desired functions" (See Wikipedia)

shortage - when there is not enough of something การขาดแคลน
looming - seeming likely to happen soon ที่เห็นลางๆ (a threatening and worrying situation seems likely to happen soon)
H1 - the first half of the year (the first quarter and second quarters of the year, the first six months of the year)

PC shortage looming through H1 next year

recover - when the situation improves, gets better; to become healthy and fit again การฟื้นไข้
manufacturer - a company that produces goods in factories

big manufacturers will recover first  

widespread - happening or existing in many places, or affecting many people อย่างแพร่หลาย
widespread flooding - flooding in many places

impact - an effect or influence ผลกระทบ
through the first half of 2012 - for the first six months of 2012

direct impact on worldwide personal computer shipments through the first half of 2012

disrupted - interrupted and prevented from continuing smoothly by creating problems ขัดขวาง
hard disk drive (HDD) - the device within a computer that stores large amounts of information and data (See Wikipedia)

operations disrupted at more than a dozen hard disk drive (HDD) factories

significant - important; large enough to be important or have an effect ที่สำคัญยิ่ง
damage is significant

capacity - production capacity, the amount of something that can be produced ความสามารถในการ (ผลิต)
nearly half of this capacity was directly affected by the flooding

participant - a person or organization included in an activity  ผู้มีส่วนร่วม, ผู้เข้าร่วม
restore - to cause a particular situation to exist again, especially a good one ฟื้นฟูสภาพ

relatively - compared to other things โดยเปรียบเทียบกับสิ่งอื่น
relatively quickly -  fast and quick, compared to other things

HDD industry participants recover and restore production capacity relatively quickly

constrained - limited, not free ถูกบังคับ
constrained supply - limited supply (fewer goods available, shortages)

extended period of time - for a longer period of time

supply will remain constrained for an extended period of time

vendors - companies that sell a product
shortages - when there are not enough goods for people to buy การขาดแคลน

PC vendors should plan for and expect significant HDD shortages

first quarter - the first three months of the year
first quarter of next year  

inventory - goods in stock; the goods at a store or available at the store's warehouse  รายการสิ่งของ, สินค้าที่มีอยู่ในร้าน
existing HDD inventories

current - of the present time ปัจจุบัน

worst - most + bad
scenario - the way that a situation may develop in the future; a description of possible actions or events in the future
worst-case scenario - the worst possible situation; if everything fails; if everything goes wrong

shipments - product sent to customers
shipments could be depressed by more than 20% - the product sent to customers could be lower by more than 20% 

forecasts - what experts say will happen in the future คาดการณ์

in a worst-case scenario, total PC shipments could be depressed by more than 20% in the first quarter of 2012 versus previous forecasts

expected - believe will happen คาดว่า (จะเกิดขึ้น)
in the near-term - in the short-term, for a short period of time in the future (the next few months, for example) 
demand - the need and desire to buy goods and services by households and businesses

higher HDD prices are expected in the near term as demand exceeds supply

components - parts

expedited - made to happen quickly and easily
expedited shipments

stabilise - to reach a state where there are no longer any major changes or problems ทำให้มีเสถียรภาพ
pricing should stabilise by June

trend - a gradual change or development that produces a particular result ทิศทาง แนวโน้ม
one trend IDC has predicted

opportunity - a situation when it is possible to do something that you want to do (See glossary)

enterprise - an organization, especially a business กิจการ, บริษัท,อุตสาหกิจ,วิสาหกิจ
an account - a regular customer who does a lot of business with a company

enterprise accounts - big companies that do a lot of business (make large or many purchases)
capture enterprise accounts - gain big businesses as customers

larger PC vendors will have an opportunity to capture enterprise accounts from smaller competitors

accelerate - go faster and faster , at an increasing rate; to cause to happen more quickly เร่ง

consolidation - joining separate things into one unified whole
industry consolidation - when the number of companies in an industry is reduced, leaving a few large companies, each with a greater share or part of the market

accelerate industry consolidation

crisis - an urgent, difficult or dangerous situation วิกฤตการณ์ วิกฤต
in response to the crisis - doing things to reduce the damage from the crisis

priority - something important that must be done first สี่งที่สำคัญเป็นลำดับแรก การให้ลำดับความสำคัญ การมาก่อน
priority will be given to the large PC manufacturers

drive - the thing that causes (here: causes to increase) 
volume - the amount
drive HDD shipment volumes - causes hard disk drive sales to increase

large PC manufacturers that drive HDD shipment volumes

in response to the crisis, priority will be given to the large PC manufacturers that drive HDD shipment volumes

margin - profit (roughly: as a percentage of sales or revenue), also called "profit margin"
high-margin products - products that are profitable for the company (the company makes of money on the products, compared to the their expenses) 

enterprise - a large business or organization 
enterprise software - "software used in organizations, such as in a business or government, contrary to software chosen by individuals (for example, retail software),"  also known as enterprise application software (EAS) (See Wikipedia)

storage - the putting and keeping of things in a special place for use in the future การเก็บ (here: "computer storage" used to keep or store information and data on the computer for future use)
enterprise servers and storage - the servers and storage (hard drives, etc) used by a large business

high-margin products used in enterprise servers and storage

pronounced - very noticeable
pronounced impact - a very big and noticeable impact or effect
excluding - not including

The PC market in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan could feel a more pronounced impact than other regions, given the large number of basic PCs sold in the region

client - a customer (a person or company which purchases your products or services) ลูกค้า
client devices research

market share - how much of the market for a product a company controls, the percentage of total sales in the market for this kind of product that the company has (See Wikipedia)
gain market share - gain and control a larger percentage of the customers and sales in a market

process - a series of actions that you take in order to achieve a result แนวทางปฏิบัติ, กระบวน, วิธีการ
in the process - during a series of events, while a series of events or process happens 

opportunity to gain more market share in the process.

consumption - money spent by households and families on goods and services การบริโภค (See Wikipedia)
local PC consumption in Thailand

challenges - new and difficult problems to solve, that require effort and determination

logistics - transporting and storing goods on the way from factory to consumer การขนส่งและจัดจำหน่ายสินค้า (See Wikipedia and previous article)
distribution - the process of getting a company's product to customers; giving or delivering things to many people การจำหน่ายออกไป

rebound -  rise again after falling, start to rise again after decline เพิ่มขึ้นอีกครั้ง การฟื้นตัวของเศรษฐกิจ
rebound quickly - rise again quickly