Why do 2TB hard drives still cost $120?

[21mamaluigi]

That's the same price I payed over 2 years ago, what a joke.

 

[The prime mediocre]

What country do you live in and what stores are you looking at? That is, uh, a lot more than they cost in the US.

 

[Tanyac]

Here in Australia, the land of the "Most expensive technology"...

ST2000DM006 Barracuda $85 AUD - $123 AUD
ST2000DM009 Barracuda Pro $189 - $215 AUD
ST2000VN004 Ironwolf NAS $109 - $147 AUD
ST2000VX008 Skyhawk Surveillance $102 - $123 AUD

Unless of course you buy off eBay (which is never a good idea), in which case you'd be paying much more (Eg ST2000VN004 is up to $170)

I'm not surprised the OP is seeing prices of $120 if he is anywhere but the US. Not everywhere is as cheap as the US.

If you want to convert back to USD, we usually get stuff for 4 - 5 cents per dollar below the current exchange rate. So if the AUD is trading at 72.50c USD, our prices will be based on around 68.50c USD. So - $109 AUD for the NAS drive should be around $75 USD for that drive.. Sound about right?

Price gouging and exploitation as far as I'm concerned but the ACCC and Consumer Affairs say that "Retailers can charge as much as they want". Our options are pay the high prices or go without.

 

[The prime mediocre]

I see. My apologies to you and OP, Tanyac. Prices--however low--haven't fallen much in the US either.

 

[little_me]

In my experience, Hard disk prices don't usually drop far below 100-120 usd while they are still actively being sold.

Yes, cheaper disks exist, they are usually end of the line outdated older models that are being cleared off the shelves.
Yes, 2TB disks are still around that here too, except for some rare ones going for 70 to 80. (some are 5400rpm models)

Biggest reason for non dropping price is likely that the next "big" step in storage capacity has not yet been reached (relatively, not even needed in desktops, 2TB is a lot of space) and as such, factories are still making 2TB disks and I would suspect that said 100 to 120 is around their "it's fine, still turning profit, we are comfortable here" margin.

 

[Tanyac]

I see. My apologies to you and OP, Tanyac. Prices--however low--haven't fallen much in the US either.

No need for apologies. I'm a little irked by articles I read here about "graphics prices plunge" because here in Australia the prices are being held high (probably in anticipation of the ridiculous prices they are going to charge for the RTX cards - up to $2000).

Eg. GTX 1080 Ti $1299 - $1599 depending on where you buy. Memory, PSU, Monitors, you name it - we pay exorbitant prices for it. If we import it we get slugged massive import duties on top.

We get ripped of with all technology. I was just shopping for a 10TB drive when I came across this thread, so I was already frustrated... Lol, I'm probably the one who should apologize.

 

[USAFRet]

That's the same price I payed over 2 years ago, what a joke.

US prices, 2TB:
Seagate Barracuda - $60
https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-BarraCuda-Cache-Desktop-ST2000DM006/dp/B01IEKG402

WD Blue - $60
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Desktop-Hard-Disk-Drive/dp/B013QFRS2S

Toshiba - $60
https://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Desktop-7200rpm-Internal-Drive/dp/B013JPKT9O

 

[jsmithepa]

When buying storage, I always ask, what's the sweet spot today? what's the cheapest per GB?