Blackout at Samsung NAND factory destroys chunk of global supply

Just what the world needs after a year of component shortages

PC-and-server-makers spent most of 2017 complaining about profit erosion due to shortages of key components.

Now comes news from Taiwan about further disruption to the supply chain, this time for NAND Flash, thanks to a blackout at a Samsung plant.

Taiwan’s DigiTimes has cited reports of a ‘leccy loss in Pyeongtaek, where the company already makes NAND and will soon make lots more stuff, too after a massive expansion.

The blackout was apparently done and dusted in 30 minutes, but that was enough to leave 11 per cent of the plant’s monthly output in ruins. With Samsung being one of the world’s largest sources of flash memory, analysts say the unplanned switch-off will dent the world’s monthly supply by around three-and-a-half per cent.

Which is just peachy given the ongoing pressure kit-makers face to get stuff into your hands, and ours, at a decent price.

The Register will therefore be utterly unsurprised if the likes of Dell, Lenovo, IBM and HPE mention this incident in their next earnings reports. ®