Chinese resources Economic Daily and Sanli News reported that a large Taiwanese supplier of HDD components has made numerous layoffs and is going to close the plant. According to Tom's Hardware, we are talking about Resonac, a large manufacturer of films used to cover the surface of HDD platters.
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In September, 40 companies based in the Hsinchu Science Park in Taiwan laid off 165 employees, according to United Daily News.. In October, 48 Hsinchu-based companies laid off 496 workers, with the bulk of the month's layoffs related to Resonac, according to Tom's Hardware. Resource analysts suggest that the situation with Resonac will also affect the performance in November, since according to sources, Resonac is carrying out reductions in three stages and is closing its plant in Hsinchu, which previously had a staff of about 600 people.
However, not all segments of the IT market are experiencing problems. According to sources, the number of employees at enterprises in Hsinchu Science Park increased year-on-year by 2% or by 3,602 people. In total, 572 companies were registered here at the end of October 2023 – seven more than a year ago.
Over the past few years, HDD sales have continued to fall amid the growing popularity of solid-state drives, which are distinguished by increasingly attractive prices per GB and increasing performance.. Seagate and WD HDD shipments fell 43% year over year in 2022, according to Tom's Hardware. To be fair, the supply decline could be considered part of a broader decline in process equipment shipments in 2022-2023. In addition, some experts predict that high demand for HDDs for data centers will continue in the coming years.