Rare Earth Restrictions To Raise Hard Drive Cost 254
MojoKid writes "Multiple manufacturers in the IT industry have been keeping a wary eye on China's decision to cut back on rare earth exports and the impact it may have on component prices. There have been reports that suggest we'll see that decision hit the hard drive industry this year, with HDD prices trending upwards an estimated 5-10 percent depending on capacity. Although rare earth magnets are only a small part of a hard drive's total cost, China cut exports last year by 40 percent, which drove pricing for these particular components up an estimated 20-30x. China currently controls 97 percent of the rare earth elements market for popular metals like neodymium, cerium, yttrium and ytterbium."
The obvious first question... (Score:5, Interesting)
that this article doesn't touch on at all is does this affect Solid State Drives (SSDs)? Probably not because they don't use magnets. So this will just speed up the jump to SSDs. You could be the cynic and think that somehow China decided to raise rare earth prices to drive SSDs, but I kinda doubt that Hard drives in general make up a significant part of that decision.
Re:Too important (Score:5, Interesting)
Right now Hybrid vehicles either use brushless DC or permeant magnet excited AC motors. Both need rare earth magnets and neither are as powerful or efficient for their application as switched reluctance motors which do not use magnets at all. If the electric auto industry was innovative, they would all be using switched reluctance motors and China could eat their rare earth magnets.
My guess is a swamp of patents by Toyota that keep them in the dark ages so they can protect their IP.
Most HDDs are Made in China (Score:3, Interesting)
Tempest in a Teapot... (Score:5, Interesting)
The Chinese will mess with the price of Rare Earths (which are not really all that rare) and the US will almost certainly begin using its own from a major find in California. All the while Austrailia, Japan, Africa and South America look at seriously developing their resources. The real lock China has on Rare Earths is its processing (pretty much the only game in town right now.) Here's a chance for the U.S. to get back into industrial jobs (god forbid) and produce a lasting job base for a new global economic boom in the rare earth arena. The Chinese advantage is short term, and if they squeeze too hard, the world will simply take their business away. Nobody likes a chiseler.
By the way rare earths are used all over the place and for a dizzying array of things. There are about 400 lbs of them in a late model Prius. They are used in virtually all green tech (high performance generators in modern wind mills are pretty much sluggs of rare earths.) Colorful plasma and LED displays use them (that cool display on your smart phone is probably chock full of rare earths.) Florescent lighting that is any color but off green uses rare earth mixed in with the coating. Rare earths are used in glass making, advanced textiles, plastics with special properties (OLEDs), and anything that uses an enhanced magnetic field from an earbud to an mag-lev train. Even the "Euro" contains a trace of Europium as an elemental pun. Modern society runs on rare earths.
Re:The obvious first question... (Score:4, Interesting)
5-10% isn't that much. Spinning discs will still be a lot cheaper than even the cheapest SSDs.
Re:no need for guaranteed purchase (Score:4, Interesting)
Isn't there a desolate, almost uninhabited desert in Peru just off the Pacific Ocean?
Aren't they pretty desperate?
Comes down to energy to run desalination to supply the water and political stability. Nice earthquake area so good fun for all, lets build a nuke or four to run the thing. Prove a modern nuke can run through a 8. Nobody but employees/contractors for a hundred miles. Show those Chinese how we do it the American way.
Re:The obvious first question... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:The obvious first question... (Score:2, Interesting)
What's worse is that a $5 jump in the price of a hard drive will mean computers will go up by about $200, and manufacturers (the few that are left) will say that they have to raise prices because "of the rise in component cost".
By my calculations, by the year 2015 there will be two corporations in every sector. Two oil companies, two beverage companies, two computer manufacturers, two banks. And two by two they will board the ark and leave the rest of the fucking human race in servitude. Just think of the savings in input costs! Profits will soar. And there will 1000 owners and the rest of us will be renters.
Anybody want to bet that's a more accurate prediction than anything we'll hear in next year's election season?
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)