US computer chip giant Intel lowered its fourth-quarter outlook on December 12, citing a hard disk drive shortage caused by flooding in Thailand. Intel said it expected revenue of between $13.4 billion and $14 billion in the fourth quarter, down from its previous forecast of between $14.2 billion and $15.2 billion.
"Sales of personal computers are expected to be up sequentially in the fourth quarter," Intel said in a statement. "However, the world-wide PC supply chain is reducing inventories and microprocessor purchases as a result of hard disk drive supply shortages."
Intel said it expects disk drive supply shortages to continue into the first quarter of next year, "followed by a rebuilding of microprocessor inventories as supplies of hard disk drives recover during the first half of 2012."
Months of flooding this year shut down many hard disk drive factories in Thailand, which supplies about 40 percent of the world market for the crucial components.