After graphics cards, cryptocurrencies have "scoured" the price of hard drives.
Recently, a cryptocurrency called Chia (Chia) has spread all over the "mine circle." According to official information, Chia was incorporated in August 2017, aiming to develop a platform that can optimize blockchain and smart transactions. Chia Network is currently being established to improve the global financial and payment system. Chia will become the first enterprise-level digital currency.
Unlike most cryptocurrencies that use computing power to mine, Chia uses the idle disk space on the hard drive to run proof of space (Pospace), and coordinate with another consensus algorithm-proof of time (Potime) to verify the blockchain. The income of Chia "farmers" (miners) is proportional to the amount of resources-storage space, that is, if you have 10 times the space, you will get 10 times the reward.
Generally speaking, Chia coins can be mined using hard disks, and the larger the hard disk space, the higher the mining efficiency.
With the explosion of Chia coins, demand for hard drives has increased, and hard drive prices have risen across the board. Among them, the hardest hit areas are enterprise-level hard drives of 8T and above that are most suitable for mining. Such hard drives are seriously out of stock and their prices have increased by nearly three times.
On April 19, Times Finance visited the hard disk vendors in the Zhongguancun Science and Trade Electronic City, and found that the fundamental reason for the price increase of hard disks was not the shortage of stocks, but the fact that the sales channels were monopolized in the hands of a small number of people because of the sales of agents in China.
Large-capacity enterprise-class hard drives "price increases by the hour"
Seagate and Western Digital are the main brands of large-capacity mechanical hard drives, both of which are American companies and sell as agents in China.
At present, in the two e-commerce platforms of JD and Taobao, Seagate and Western Digital's 6T and above enterprise disks are all out of stock. Seagate JD’s customer service said, “The large-capacity hard drives are basically sold out, and the products are actively stocking and purchasing, and the specific arrival time has not been notified for the time being.”
Source: Western Digital Jingdong Flagship Store
But in Xianyu, QQ group, WeChat group and offline stores, many people are selling large-capacity mechanical hard drives at high prices.
At noon on April 19, Times Finance entered the Zhongguancun Science and Trade Electronic City and asked whether the hard disk vendor had 8T enterprise-level hard disks. The seller Lin Feng (pseudonym) took out two Western Digital 6T enterprise-level hard disks with his heart, "I know why you are. Buy (meaning mining), my price is the most cost-effective. Now 6T and 8T hard disks are the most lacking, because they are entry-level mining, people who want to try but are not willing to spend a lot of money will choose this type of disk. "
Western Digital 6T enterprise hard drive in Lin Feng's hands. Photo courtesy of interviewees
Lin Feng's Western Digital 6T enterprise hard drive is priced at 1,450 yuan. Before the price increase, the prices of ordinary 6T, 8T, and 16T enterprise-level hard disks were about 820 yuan, 1249 yuan, and 3300 yuan, respectively.
According to Lin Feng, about 4 days ago, the price of mechanical hard drives in Zhongguancun Science and Technology Trade and Electronics City began to skyrocket, and the price increased by the hour, and the price was different in the morning and afternoon. "Take an 8T hard drive as an example. Two days ago, the price in the morning was still 1,370 yuan, and it became 1,500 yuan in the afternoon. You can see how much it is now."
Times Finance asked many shops in Zhongguancun and found that, with the exception of Lin Feng’s goods, the prices of all large-capacity mechanical hard drives are basically at the same level, with little difference from each other. The prices of 6T, 8T, and 16T are 1,620 yuan and 2,900 yuan respectively. , 6200 yuan.
When Times Finance tentatively mentioned that other stores have cheaper prices, the other party said, "Then I advise you to hurry up and buy at his house. It is not how much it is now, it is a question of availability. If you turn around, he may It’s not the price."
In online communities and second-hand trading platforms, some hard drives are cheaper than offline. On April 19, Times Finance entered a QQ group called "chia technology bug exchange" through keyword search. Although the group rule stated that only mining technology was discussed, a large number of people selling hard disks still entered the group.
At 15:27, a seller sent a message in the group, "Seagate 16T SATA 4125 pieces, can be distributed, the stock is in Shanghai, the full payment can be shipped, and the price is 5XXX."
Times Finance asked it about the price at 15:36. The other party said, "The price is 5,300 yuan, and there are more than 300 pieces. It was set just now. Do you think there is no shortage of this stuff?" When asked about the supply, the other party said, "The price is 5300 yuan and there are more than 300 pieces. It said it was stocked a month ago, but the specific source is not convenient to inform.
There are also many sellers on Xianyu selling enterprise-grade mechanical hard drives at varying prices, and some even sell hard drives in auctions. A seller in Kunming started auctioning Western Digital enterprise-grade 18T hard drives three days ago, saying that “the capital chain will soon be broken if you buy too much, and you will sell 5 of them.” There are currently 10 people participating in the bidding, and the highest bid is 20,300 yuan.
When enterprise-level hard disks are out of stock, some people will go back and buy surveillance-level hard disks. The latter are generally used in streaming media playback and video surveillance fields. The reliability is lower than enterprise-level hard disks but higher than ordinary disks.
A merchant recommended to Times Finance, "Now there are 9 8T surveillance-level hard drives in stock, 2,600 yuan, and the enterprise-level price is around 3,000 yuan, which is out of stock. (Monitoring-level hard drives) are the same for mining, but the speed is lower." According to the photos provided by the other party, their inventory is Seagate 8T surveillance-level hard drives.
But that night, a group "hard drive procurement channels" that specifically discussed Chia hard drive mining circulated a statement about Hikvision’s SME service business. The statement stated that “Hikvision’s surveillance-level hard drives cannot support third parties. The system cannot support mining scenarios. Monitoring hard drives engaged in mining will not be able to enjoy the normal limited warranty service."
Source: WeChat group "hard drive procurement channel"
However, some players said that surveillance-level hard drives can still mine normally, "it can be used, but there is no warranty if they are broken, not as good as enterprise-level ones." The prices of surveillance-level hard drives are also rising across the board.
The shortage of mechanical hard drives also drives up the price of solid-state drives. Solid-state drives are currently rising by about 100 yuan to 200 yuan. "Many people who want to buy mechanical hard drives can't buy them, or if the price is too expensive, they will buy solid state and bring the price up." Lin Feng told Times Finance and Economics that people in the film and television industry came to buy hard drives two days ago. I couldn't find a large-capacity mechanical hard drive, and finally bought nearly 70 small solid state drives.
Why is it out of stock? Agents in China suppress goods, some people make 3 million a day from hoarding goods
Is such a large-scale price increase really out of stock or artificial?
Times Finance visited the Zhongguancun Science and Trade Electronic City and found that the hard disk vendors in the Electronic City did not have any stocks. When customers needed it, they called the dealers on the spot to inquire about the inventory and price, but there were only a small amount of goods.
"Now that the price has risen so high, we dare not stock up on goods. Who can afford to pay if it falls?" Some merchants said that at present, the prices of goods from dealers are also very high, and the profit of selling a piece is about 100 yuan. "I don't know who made this money."
Western Digital and Seagate are both American companies and have agents in China. Generally, hard drives will flow from the agent to the distributor, then from the distributor to the merchant, and finally from the merchant to the consumer.
More than one merchant revealed to Times Finance that the hard drives are not out of stock at the moment, but Seagate and Western Digital's agents in China do not ship them. "My friend works at a Western Digital agency. Last night (April 18) their company had a meeting and said that they can't ship to dealers now, and there are still a lot of goods to be recalled." Lin Feng told Times Finance.
Some people who have access to agents in China will take this to stock up. Lin Feng originally only sold mobile phones, but now he has a total of 5 6T Seagate Enterprise hard drives, all of which were picked up from friends on April 18, at a price of 1150 yuan.
However, he said that he was "not bold" and did not dare to take the goods on a large scale. Lin Feng revealed to Times Finance that a merchant in Zhongguancun Science and Trade Electronic City who originally sold computers, because of the news of the price increase of hard drives in advance, sold the computers and made 3 million yuan a day when the price increased.
Times Finance also came into contact with a large-scale stockpile merchant. It said that he had received news of a price increase a month ago. At that time, he had collected 500 16T enterprise hard drives. Now there are very few left, but he can continue to order.
"The 16T enterprise hard disk is 5800 yuan. I can get it for you as much as you want." Seeing that Times Finance has no desire to buy, the other party added, "Are you out of the hard disk? I will charge you 5000 yuan."
Those who stock up will look for various channels to sell hard drives. Times Finance has joined a WeChat group called the "hard drive procurement channel group". The group owner established a WeChat group dedicated to selling hard drives. They accept reservations at 9 a.m. every morning and close the library in the early morning. As of the evening of the 20th, the group has 192 people.
The prices of the Seagate 4T, 6T, and 8T enterprise-level hard drives it sells are respectively 1,450 yuan, 1,550 yuan, and 2,400 yuan. As of 5 pm, the inventory is 200, 300, and 90, respectively.
The owner of the group told Times Finance that his purchase channel is Seagate's Dahua first-level agent. "Now the market is stocked. We sell in the area. The local counterparts in Chengdu will exchange goods with each other.
The incoming goods are all in batches, where they need to be supplied. "As for sales, the group owner said that the current demand for hard drives is relatively large, and the shipments are very fast. "We ship quickly, and the purchase will be in place within two days at most, and today there are two more batches. "
The group owner shows the hard disks that have arrived. Source: WeChat group "hard disk channel purchase group"
Storage of hard drives will have a certain regionality. When the group asked whether to accept hard drives, the group owner said, “Only products from Chengdu and familiar dealers.” Times Finance asked about the purchase cost price, and the other party just said, take it. The price of the goods is not cheap, and the agent earns part of it, but the price is acceptable.
The group administrator will encourage everyone to stock up, "Finding the group owner to stock up less will not suffer. If you make a big increase, you will make a profit, but you will not lose much." There are also large-scale stockpiling in the group: "16T Enterprise Edition, I can add 3,000 and I need 20,000. If the quantity is received, the bulk cargo will not be received. You can directly sign the contract and make the advance payment."
As for when the price of hard drives will fall, no one can tell. Some people believe that with the opening of Chia coin trading in the future, the price of hard drives will only rise. Others believe that the current price is only artificially raised and will soon fall.
A person who solicited customers at the gate of the Electronic City warned when he heard that Times Finance wanted to buy a hard drive: "It is definitely not worth buying now, and the price will come down in a few days." The hard drive buying and selling group is also full of news about price cuts. Some people couldn't stand it anymore and started to ship. "Take advantage of the owner's place. Western Digital Enterprise Disk 12T is really the lowest price. The last dozens of them are packaged for 3,500 yuan each. I don't want to stock up."
