As if the floods in Thailand weren’t trouble enough for the hard drive industry (and for customers looking to grab a hard drive at a reasonable price), it now appears that Western Digital is dumping another lump of coal in customers' stockings this holiday season.
According to The Register, Western Digital sent out a letter to its channel partners informing them that Caviar Blue, Caviar Green, and Scorpio Blue drives will have their warranties slashed from three years to two years beginning January 2, 2012. Caviar Black and Scorpio Black drives will soldier own with their existing five-year warranties.
The letter reads in part:
It is important that you take a moment to update your website(s) and collateral to reflect this change for effected drives shipped after January 1st, 2012.
All drives shipped to distributors prior to Jan. 2nd 2012 will retain the current warranty terms. Because of existing inventory in the distribution channel there will be a short period of time when some drives with a 3-year warranty will be sold at the same time as drives with a 2-year warranty.
Intel recently announced that it would take a $1 billion USD hit to its earnings due to the current hard drive shortage.
