In their Q2 2012 quarterly earnings call, Western Digital indicated drive shipments in the quarter that ended in December were roughly 119 million units, which included a pre-flood inventory of 11 million drives. Of those drives, WD shipped 28.5 million, compared to 52.2 million in the same quarter a year ago. While WD recovers more quickly than expected from flooding, demand far exceeds industry capacity and supply/demand balance isn’t expected until the first half of 2013.
In their Q2 2012 quarterly earnings call, Western Digital indicated drive shipments in the quarter that ended in December were roughly 119 million units, which included a pre-flood inventory of 11 million drives. Of those drives, WD shipped 28.5 million, compared to 52.2 million in the same quarter a year ago. While WD recovers more quickly than expected from flooding, demand far exceeds industry capacity and supply/demand balance isn’t expected until the first half of 2013.
Drive Sales Breakdown
For the quarter, here’s the breakdown of WD’s drive shipments:
- 9.8 million netbook/notebook drives
- 11.4 million desktop drives
- 2.4 million CE
- 3.2 million branded
- 1.7 million enterprise drives
Thailand
Western Digital has been hit hardest by the Thailand flooding, but things are getting better for WD faster than expected. They’re manufacturing sliders again, which is a key component for hard drives and expect to be at pre-flood capacity levels in the third calendar quarter of this year. In the interim, WD has increased throughput from their Malaysian factory and is working hard to bring equipment back online in Thailand. Western Digital has also been working with SAE/TDK to provide both drive components and processing of WD’s raw wafers.
Hitachi Acquisition
WD continues to work through regulatory demands from Europe and China but still plans to close the Hitachi acquisition by March.
