EmailSeagate Tech (STX $16.76 +0.77) continues to believe that, due to the industry impacts caused by the extensive flooding in Thailand, hard disk drive supply will be significantly constrained for several quarters. For the December 2011 quarter, the company believes the industry will ship between 110-120 million units.
The company's component and disk drive factories in Thailand have not been directly affected by the flood; however, the company's ability to manufacture hard disk drives has been impacted due to external component supply constraints as first disclosed on October 12, 2011.
For the December 2011 quarter, the company now expects unit shipments of approximately 43 million units and revenue of approximately $2.8 billion (vs $2.65 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate). Gross margin as a percent of revenue is expected to be 150-300 basis points above the high-end of the company's long-term, targeted gross margin range of 22-26%.
