A new class action lawsuit in the United States accuses the largest manufacturers of hard disk drive components of a price-fixing conspiracy that lasted 13 years, between 2003 and 2016. The collusion affected resellers and consumers, inflating HDD costs. The components, magnetic head suspensions, are present in 97% of the world's hard drives. Seagate, Western Digital, and Toshiba are implicated through suppliers linked to TDK and NHK Spring. The case is a continuation of an antitrust lawsuit approved in Canada in 2022, and if the plaintiffs win, those affected could receive compensation. A date for the hearing has not yet been set.
The critical component that moved prices ⚙️
Magnetic head suspensions are tiny but essential parts in a hard drive. They hold the read/write head nanometers above the spinning platter, enabling extreme precision without physical contact. Without these suspensions, the drive cannot function. The plaintiffs allege that the manufacturers of these components artificially agreed on prices for over a decade, eliminating competition. Since nearly all HDDs on the market use these elements from TDK or NHK Spring, the price distortion was passed on to every unit sold, affecting everything from enterprise servers to home computers.
The price of precision: a 13-year tale ☕
It seems the precision of the heads wasn't the only thing fine-tuned during those 13 years; the pricing strategy was as well. The suspension manufacturers, instead of competing to make the finest part, apparently competed to see who could inflate the price the most without anyone noticing. Quite an exercise in patience and coordination that would make any choreographer pale in comparison. Now, those affected hope that if there is compensation, it at least covers the coffee they overpaid for with each hard drive purchased. After all, justice is slow, but coffee always gets cold.