HDD prices to touch Rs 4,500 in the next few days

The prices of hard disc drives were shooting up continuously in the last two months. In the current week, the price touched an all-time high of Rs 4,250 for 40GB drives of both Seagate and Samsung. Moreover, the market expects the prices to go up further and trade in the Rs 4,500 zone, in the next few days.

"Over the last week, the prices were going normal. However, this week, there is a sudden upswing in the rate and it has increased by Rs 200 to Rs 300 in the last two to three days," said Bharat Jain, Director, Computer Delight.

Two months back, Samsung and Seagate were trading hard disc drives in the Rs 3,700 range. "There are many reasons given by many sources for this continuous increase in the price. However, stock availability plays a crucial role in deciding the price of the products. Samsung, which is sold at Rs 4,200 presently, would be priced Rs 4,350 to Rs 4,500 in the next couple of days as stocks are not available. Meanwhile, sources close to the company quote, the transfer price (transfer price is not end-user price) for dealers/resellers would be Rs 4,300 from next supply," said a dealer from the Ritchie Street market.

However, market sources say Seagate products are available and it is priced Rs 4,150 to Rs 4,200. "We don't know how long Seagate stocks are going to be available. However, some of the channels have stocked enough to meet the situation," said another key reseller in Narasingapuram Street.

Meanwhile, another section of resellers report that Seagate hard disc drives are also not available in enough quantity and price would go up and match with Samsung rates, in the coming days.

Market is also abuzz with rumors that hard disc manufacturing giants would phase off 40GB drives from the market and make 60GB an entry-level product, in the next few months. "It is sure and vendors are playing game with the prices. Presently, 60GB hard disc drive is available for Rs 5,300 to Rs 5,400 and the prices would fall down and have a narrow difference with 40GB drives," said another premier reseller in the market.

Meanwhile, Maxtor drives are gaining importance as it offers better price and equal warranty period with that of Samsung and Seagate.

"This is an usual trend in the HDD industry. The vendors would slash prices continuously over a period of time to compete with each other and at one point of time, they know that it is very tough to operate at that price. So they create an artificial demand and increase the price which would come down again over a period," he said.

According to close sources to Samsung, "The sudden demand in international markets had created this situation in India. Normally, a good demand is expected during Christmas season and this time, it happened much before."

Maxtor has cut down its warranty period to one year from three years and Seagate is following the suit from October 1, 2002. However, Samsung discounted this option and sources say, "Samsung's winning point is warranty coupled with good quality and competitive price."

S Gopikrishna