Acer, Samsung: Drive Shortages From Thai Floods To Hurt PC Sales, Boost Prices

As the Financial Times reports, Acer today said it will boost PC prices to cover the higher costs it now faces for disk drives. The Taiwan-based PC maker said Q4 sales will be 5%-10% lower than Q3 as a result of the floods; it had previously expected Q4 sales to be flat with Q3. The company said it has seen a 20% jump in drive prices since the flooding began.

Samsung said it will be affected indirectly as a result of supply shortages due to the flooding; the company says Q4 PC sales will be below previous forecasts, and as a result will pressure prices for DRAMs. The FT notes that Lenovo and Asustek also have warned that the PC industry will be hampered by supply shortages, especially for drives, and that Sony has announced the delay of some new cameras due to damaged production sites in Thailand.