Chip maker Intel has reduced its fourth-quarter revenue forecast by about $1bn because of a shortage of hard disk drives (HDDs) created by Thailand’s floods.
The South East Asian nation, which puts together about 70% of the world’s HDDs, was devastated by flooding.
According to a statement by the company, the revenues will be $13.7bn, plus or minus $300m, down from its previous estimate of around $14.7bn.
Intel senior vice president Tom Kilroy said in the last two weeks, as the supply became more apparent, we saw a substantial change in our order rate. Most of our customers are concerned the shortage will continue — especially through the early part of the first quarter.
Prominent PC makers like Hewlett Packard and Dell have been warning since October that they may build fewer PCs as they use up the current stock of hard drives and struggle to replace them.
Intel makes microprocessors for four out of every five PCs sold in the world.
