# Why are the prices of hard drives so high? Will they go down? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 21, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396 "2012-03-21T12:28:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396/21 "2012-03-21T20:24:03Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > You young whippersnapper! Back when I started things were measured in Kb…and not large numbers of it either! > > 😃 My first computer was a Timex Sinclair 2000. The 2000 wasn’t to signify the future. It was the number of bytes, double the earlier model. Do not make me whip out my running FORTRAN on punch cards. I will if I have to. Oh, yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Sethcrzygy86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Sethcrzygy86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sethcrzygy86)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396/22 "2012-03-22T00:02:42Z")
How about 60tb? > **[What Would You Do With 60TB?](https://www.pcmag.com/archive/what-would-you-do-with-60tb-295613)** > > New Seagate technology promises hard drive storage capacities of up to 60 terabytes in the next decade. Could this much room render the cloud obsolete? ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396/23 "2012-03-22T01:25:46Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > A million megabyte. My first hard drive held 20 megabytes and cost more. I remember that too. Today we download podcasts that size, listen to them … and then _throw them away_. I find that fact striking, for whatever reason. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396/24 "2012-03-22T01:52:17Z")
I just looked at the price and they did shoot up. I bought a 640GB External hd WD model for about $70 in 2009. I checked into them last year and a 2 TB was about $100. Now those same models go for closer to $130. I’ll wait a year before I buy another one. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396/25 "2012-03-22T01:55:35Z")
40MB hard drive and 7MB of ram, all for $2100. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Jd97IzJbiYc/hqdefault.jpg "Al Bundy's Computer") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd97IzJbiYc) But in 20 years being limited to terabytes of data storage and processors that perform billions of calculations per second will seem ancient too. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Niply\_Elder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@The\_Niply\_Elder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Niply_Elder)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396/26 "2012-03-22T06:40:32Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > 40MB hard drive and 7MB of ram, all for $2100. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd97IzJbiYc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd97IzJbiYc) > > But in 20 years being limited to terabytes of data storage and processors that perform billions of calculations per second will seem ancient too. Billions of calculations a second will be like the letter “B” in an alphabet that goes up to “Z”. _werd to yo mutha_ Do the math. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396/27 "2012-03-22T16:47:03Z")
I was recently looking for a personal HD and talked to a guy who sells to the pros–sells to our office, actually (documentary production company). He said the Thailand thing is still working itself out and nobody really knows what’s going on–weird in this day and age. Anyway, he said deals are still available and they offer them on their site, in cases of overstock. He steered me to a 1TB Glyph (“what Neil Young’s people use for backup”) on special for about $200. You can get Western Digital for cheaper but they are not very good drives; they were dying on me at the rate of one a year and I wanted better. I won’t post the link to the business, but you can Google hard drives or media storage in Los Angeles and Burbank, there are a few companies to try. ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396/28 "2012-03-22T17:16:25Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Ah, yes, the days of Commodore 64 8-bit porn. Or, worse, [ASCII porn.](http://www.asciipr0n.com/pr0n/) (It’s a couple links away from anything objectionable.) Those were the days! You had to stand far away from the screen or printout and use your imagination. Kids these days never had it so good. Google Chrome tells me that the ASCII porn is actually in Galician, and wants to translate it. I never knew the rural Spanish were so… interesting. Now I understand the real draw of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396/29 "2012-03-22T18:55:24Z")
Why is there such a concentration of the world’s hard drive manufacturing in Thailand? Forty percent!!! What’s so special about Thailand? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396/30 "2012-03-22T21:07:33Z")
> [@The\_Niply\_Elder](#): > > Billions of calculations a second will be like the letter “B” in an alphabet that goes up to “Z”. > > _werd to yo mutha_ > > Do the math. I know, I’ve read Kurzweil. 10^60 cps for $1000 in 2100. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396/31 "2012-03-22T22:34:50Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Why is there such a concentration of the world’s hard drive manufacturing in Thailand? Forty percent!!! What’s so special about Thailand? Lets put it this way. The company I work for hires programmers in India because they are paid about 10% of what a U.S. worker does. Why hire a Western worker for min wage when you can set up in Thialand and pay them air? ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396/32 "2012-03-22T22:48:29Z")
The hard disk you’ve been waiting for: [http://www.avforums.com/forums/attachments/hard-disk-drives-solid-state-drives/215247d1292098120-old-hard-drive-advert-harddiskwt8.jpg](http://www.avforums.com/forums/attachments/hard-disk-drives-solid-state-drives/215247d1292098120-old-hard-drive-advert-harddiskwt8.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396/33 "2012-03-23T01:03:10Z")
The hard drives are about twice what they used to be, or at least on the 1 TB 7200 RPM SATA II flavor. I got one for $55 in September of last year, and the same drive (same exact part #) is now $109. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396/34 "2012-03-23T08:45:49Z")
> [@bump](#): > > The hard drives are about twice what they used to be, or at least on the 1 TB 7200 RPM SATA II flavor. Actually, the prices are 30-50% higher now, based on _normal_ pricing. What makes it seem much worse is that because of the shortage, there are hardly any sales. Used to be, Newegg or Fry’s would have a few models per week on sale at deep discounts, so you could get a $100 1TB drive for $60 or so, or even lower on Black Friday or something. Now they are pretty much all full price. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396/35 "2012-03-23T11:15:47Z")
So when will this get better? When will the supply get back to normal and the prices drop? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396/36 "2012-03-23T11:38:29Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > I’m not sure about that. I was happily watching a guy £ing away at some chick’s : but then all of a sudden she squatted down & took a / on him. I think it was revenge. She took the / because after he finished £ing she only had a ; ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396/37 "2012-03-23T12:42:16Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I think it was revenge. She took the / because after he finished £ing she only had a ; But did she have her . ---
**Author:** ![IntelliQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e99b99/32.png) [@IntelliQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IntelliQ)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396/38 "2012-03-23T21:51:07Z")
> [@Sethcrzygy86](#): > > How about 60tb? > > [What Would You Do With 60TB? | PCMag](http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2401831,00.asp) The author is sorta mind blown anyone could think of filling a 60TB drive. Hell I already have about 3TB of mostly non HD video, game back ups, music, etc. A decade from now your average middle duty data pack rat will absolutely use up 60TB no prob. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396/39 "2012-03-23T22:54:21Z")
> [@IntelliQ](#): > > The author is sorta mind blown anyone could think of filling a 60TB drive. Hell I already have about 3TB of mostly non HD video, game back ups, music, etc. > > A decade from now your average middle duty data pack rat will absolutely use up 60TB no prob. I could use one right now. I must have 60TB in several dozen assorted-size drives offline, in boxes already. The only problem with putting all your data in one basket is if the cat knocks it on the floor, you may lose it all at once. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396/40 "2012-03-24T00:36:39Z")
> [@IntelliQ](#): > > The author is sorta mind blown anyone could think of filling a 60TB drive. Hell I already have about 3TB of mostly non HD video, game back ups, music, etc. > > A decade from now your average middle duty data pack rat will absolutely use up 60TB no prob. Yeah, I’d kill for a 60TB drive. All your porn ^H^H^H^H spreadsheets conveniently in one place. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-prices-of-hard-drives-so-high-will-they-go-down/616396.md?page=3)