Hard drives prices will reportedly rise by as much as 10 per cent following export restrictions on so-called 'rare earth' elements vital for many forms of electronics.
Hard drive manufacturers said that the worst hit would be 500GB models which could see prices increase by 10 per cent in the third quarter 2011, according to a DigiTimes report.
Larger 1TB drives will to be impacted as much with prices rising by around 5 per cent according to sources within the hard drive manufacturing industry quoted by the DigiTimes.
China produces the vast bulk of the world's rare earth elements but following a 40 per cent reduction in exports from the middle kingdom, prices have increased by 20 to 30 times.
The Chinese government has been criticised as politicising the supply of rare earths such as a temporary ban in exports to Japan following a local waters dispute.
Last year China announced a crack down on the illegal mining of rare earths in an effort to curb the environmental fall out. Open cut mining and toxic discharges from the refining process are some of the environmentally damaging aspects of the industry.
Advertisement
Related Stories
- Amazon planning a colour E-ink Kindle? May 11th 2012 at 4:03AM
- Notebook makers worried about Windows 8 demand Apr 30th 2012 at 9:56PM
- Western Digital announces 40 per cent rebate on Sentinel DX4000 Apr 30th 2012 at 5:15PM
- Could notebook optical drives be on the way out? Apr 24th 2012 at 5:33AM
- WD launches first 2TB portable drive Mar 20th 2012 at 9:53PM
- Charge your laptop the eco-friendly way Mar 9th 2012 at 11:17AM
- RAM prices to increase following Japanese bankruptcy Mar 4th 2012 at 10:48PM
- Obama's Google+ overrun as the Great Firewall of China crumbles Feb 27th 2012 at 5:06PM
- Westcoast signs SanDisk partnership Feb 20th 2012 at 2:33PM
- Apple's Chinese factories raise wages Feb 20th 2012 at 6:55AM
