Research firm iSuppli reports sales of hard disk drives totaled $9.6 billion in the first quarter of the year, a new record thanks to higher average selling prices since the Thai floods severely disrupted the HDD production chain. The record revenue occurs even though shipments fell from 174 million units in Q3 2011 to 145 million units in Q1 2012. iSuppli believes it will take until Q3 2012 before HDD production will recover to pre-flood shipment levels.

The global hard disk drive (HDD) industry surged to record revenue in the first quarter, thanks to higher average selling prices that compensated for the wreckage and loss in shipments left by the October floods in Thailand, according to an IHS iSuppli Storage Market Brief report from information and analytics provider IHS (NYSE: IHS).

HDD revenue for the first quarter reached $9.6 billion, an industry high that bested the previous record of $9.3 billion in the first quarter of 2010. The rise in HDD revenue occurred even though shipments during the first quarter of 145 million units were less than the 174 million units of the third quarter last year, just before destructive floods in October damaged a wide swath of HDD factories located in Thailand. A full recovery to pre-flood shipment levels is not expected until the third quarter, one full year after the disaster.