p51d007
The constrained supply wouldn't explain only a 3.1% drop in shipped units and certainly wouldn't be enough to explain the increase in prices by (on average drives are still about 60-90% more expensive than they were before the flooding). Based on the supply-demand curves, the drop in supply would have to be substantially more to justify such steep price increases.
"Seagate on Tuesday reported financial results for the quarter ended December 30, 2011. Shipments of hard disk drives (HDDs) dropped only 3.1% in terms of units, but at the same time the Seagate's earnings increased by 18.5%, whereas the company's profitability rose whopping 375%. With increased pricing and long-term supply agreements, the HDD industry will change for a long time."
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/storage/display/20120231212837_Seagate_s_Profitability_Skyrockets_Due_to_Constraints_in_Hard_Drives_Shipments.html
Also, WD will be at 100% of pre-flood manufacturing capacity already by the middle of the year.
"We expect to be at 100% of capacity in the September quarter. So yes, exiting the June quarter, we'll have to be getting to that run rate," said John Coyne, chief executive officer of Western Digital, during the most recent conference call with financial analysts.
If by end of Q3 2012 prices do not come back to what they used to be, we'll know for certain if these ridiculous new prices are the new normal.