Western Digital Shuts Down Thailand Factories

By Doug Olenick -- TWICE, 10/12/2011

Irvine, Calif. - Western Digital has shut down production at its Thailand factories due to flooding problems in the region dramatically reducing its hard-disk-drive (HDD) production capability.

The affected factories, located near Bangkok, produced about 32 million hard drives in the quarter ending July 1, Western Digital said. In addition, many of the hard-drive components are sourced from local suppliers which are also impacted by the flooding conditions. The company also has factories located in nearby Malaysia that are not impacted by the flooding.

The Thailand factories produce internal hard drives, but company officials would not disclose the size or specific types.

The official company line stated the situation will create a constrained hard-drive supply situation for the current quarter, but a company spokesman would not go into any detail.

The company said the plants are still operational, but all work has been suspended to protect its 37,000 area employees and equipment from the rising water. Western Digital is still assessing the situation as the situation remains highly volatile and the final impact on production cannot be determined at this time.

Western Digital will make further announcements during its Oct. 19 investment conference call.

The flooding, due to seasonal storms, is the worst in 50 years to hit the country and has killed about 280 people in the country, according to a story in BusinessWeek.