Hard Disk Historical Pricing

Hard Disks - Historical Pricing

I regularly see people pose the question on internet forums of what year a particular size hard disk become available. You can use this data to get reasonable estimate. Say for example you wanted to know when 1 Gigabyte hard disks were first available. Looking at the data, the first appearance of this size drive was in the first half of 1994. From this you can know that it wasn't any later than early 1994 and, given the fast rate at which drives grew in that period, you can be fairly confident that it wasn't much earlier than that date, probably by no more than 6 or 12 months.

Size	Price	$ per Meg	1986 - March	Size	Price	$ per Meg	1986 – October
10	899	89.9
20	960	48
40	2392	59.8
44	2700	61.4
70	3592	51.3

Size	Price	$ per Meg	1987 - March The green entries are for large 5 ¼ or 8 inch mechanisms that were advertised in the magazine at this time. They give a good indication of how far ahead in size mainframe and mini computers were compared to micro computers.	Size	Price	$ per Meg	1987 – September .
20	875	43.70
30	824	27.5
40	1780	44.5
52	1750	33.7
80	2650	33.1
355	16 000	45
690	25 850	37.5

Size	Price	$ per Meg	1988 - March	Size	Price	$ per Meg	1988 – September .
20	485	24.5
30	495	16.5
40	907	22.7
44	766	17.4
52	1245	23.9
71	1947	27.4
80	2027	35.3

Size	Price		1989 - March	Size	Price	$ per Meg	1989 – September
10	295	29.5

20	379	18.9

30	409	13.6

40	510	12.7

45	695	15.4

50	729	14.6

60	650	10.8

70	900	12.8

86	895	10.4

105	1499	14.3

110	1450	13.2

150	2475	16.5

170	2190	12.9

380	4295	11.3

Size	Price	$ per Meg	1990 - March 0.763504 USD	Size	Price	$ per Meg	1990 – September
20	320	16
30	370	12.3
42	470	11.2
71	999	14
84	1391	16.6
106	1395	13.2
110	1500	13.6
140	1890	13.5
150	1950	13
270	3500	13

Size	Price	$ per Meg	1991 - March 0.784806 USD	Size	Price	$ per Meg	1991 – September
20	330	16.5
30	375	12.5
40	380	9.5
80	700	8.75
100	870	8.7
120	1365	11.4
170	1435	8.44
205	1400	6.8

Size	Price	$ per Meg	1992 - March This is the last appearance of the 20 MB drive in the survey. The 210 MB represents the best value for money. The largest drive available is 17 times bigger than the smallest. 0.754501 USD	Size	Price	$ per Meg	1992 September This is the only half year in the survey that the best value drive takes a backward step in dollars per Meg from the previous half year. The largest drive, the 510 MB is also the best value for money.
20	360	18		40	285	7.13
40	290	7.25		50	366	7.32
50	340	6.8		80	400	5
80	362	4.53		104	420	4.04
104	560	5.38		120	510	4.25
120	580	4.83		130	480	3.69
130	560	4.31		170	895	5.26
200	895	4.48		200	870	4.35
210	694	3.3		210	785	3.74
240	1199	5		240	938	3.91
340	1226	3.61		340	1699	5
				425	1799	4.23
				510	1785	3.5

Size	Price	$ per Meg	1993 - March Very stagnant half with no changes in the maximum or minimum size drives and only small changes in price across the board. The 210 MB drive returns to the best value position. 0.705204 USD	Size	Price	$ per Meg	1993 – September Again no changes in the smallest and largest drive sizes but this was made up for with a huge improvement in the $ per Meg figure.
40	269	6.73		40	235	5.88
80	360	4.5		80	345	3.89
104	399	3.84		104	315	3.32
120	450	3.75		120	330	2.63
130	504	3.88		130	370	2.54
170	560	3.29		170	420	2.18
200	690	3.45		200	399	2.1
210	650	3.1		210	460	1.9
240	800	3.33		240	570	1.92
340	1195	3.51		340	895	1.68
510	1790	3.51		425	1195	2.11
				510	1295	2.54

Size	Price	$ per Meg	1994 - March The largest selection of drives in the whole survey appears in this half year. The 1 Gig largest size mark is crossed. 0.714704 USD	Size	Price	$ per Meg	1994 – September The was a slight retraction in the maximum drive size advertised this half with the 1.2 and 1.4 Gig drives unadvertised. Drives fell below the 1$ per Meg price point.
40	189	4.73		130	280	2.15
80	298	3.73		170	329	1.94
104	285	2.74		210	290	1.38
120	360	3		240	360	1.5
130	295	2.27		270	360	1.33
170	340	2		340	330	0.97
200	340	1.7		425	380	0.89
210	366	1.74		510	490	0.96
240	395	1.65		540	585	1.8
340	480	1.41		810	895	1.1
425	679	1.6		1050	1060	1.01
510	899	1.76
540	799	1.48
1050	1579	1.5
1200	1599	1.33
1400	1930	1.38

Size	Price	$ per Meg	1995 - March The 540 MB drive is the price/capacity leader this time. 0.734802 USD	Size	Price	$ per Meg	1995 – September This is the last appearance for the work horse 210MB drive.
210	220	1.05		210	267	1.27
260	230	0.88		260	242	0.93
270	290	1.07		270	299	1.11
340	250	0.74		425	275	0.65
425	270	0.64		540	289	0.54
510	340	0.67		640	345	0.54
540	299	0.55		720	390	0.54
720	470	0.65		810	366	0.45
810	480	0.59		1050	449	0.42
1050	720	0.69		1200	499	0.51
1200	999	0.83

Size	Price	$ per Meg	1996 - March Only 8 drive sizes advertised in this half down from a peak of 16 two years ago. Big increases in bang per buck for the half. 0.7618 USD	Size	Price	$ per Meg	1996 – September The top end shares the price/capacity crown. I did the calculations to 3 decimal places and the 3.2 Gigabyte drive just edges out the competition
270	299	1.11		540	249	0.46
425	295	0.69		640	258	0.4
540	279	0.52		810	220	0.27
640	265	0.41		1050	255	0.24
810	270	0.33		1200	250	0.21
1050	315	0.3		1600	299	0.19
1600	470	0.29		2100	370	0.18
2100	510	0.24		2500	450	0.18
				3200	569	0.18

Size	Price	$ per Meg	1997 - March 5 Gigs, I'll never be able to fill that! 0.786306 USD	Size	Price	$ per Meg	1997 - September Very little change in the Cost per Meg ratio from the last half.
540	205	0.38		720	229	0.32
640	190	0.3		810	255	0.31
1050	275	0.26		1050	240	0.23
1200	260	0.22		1200	220	0.18
1600	315	0.16		1600	260	0.16
2100	330	0.16		2100	268	0.13
2500	375	0.15		2500	295	0.12
3200	435	0.14		3200	347	0.11
3800	495	0.13		3800	395	0.1
5000	495	0.1		4000	400	0.1
				4300	420	0.1
				5000	450	0.09
				6400	574	0.09

Size	Price	$ per Gig	1998 - March Now that the smallest drive is just over 1 Gig and the cost per Meg figure has been changed to cost per Gig. 0.682501 USD	Size	Price	$ per Gig	1998 – September A reduction in the largest drive size advertised with the 12 Gig disappearing from advertisements.
1.05	240	228.57		2.1	225	107
1.2	210	175		2.5	310	124
1.6	225	140.63		3.2	260	81.25
2.1	245	140.63		3.5	350	100
2.5	255	116.67		3.8	365	96.05
3.2	320	102		4.3	300	69.77
3.5	315	100		5	345	69
3.8	385	90		6.4	385	60.16
4.3	339	101.32		7.6	545	71.71
5	425	78.84		8.4	450	53.57
6.4	460	85		10.2	715	70.1
8.4	699	71.88
12	799	66.58

Size	Price	$ per Gig	1999 - March Steady improvements in drive size and value. 0.617902 USD	Size	Price	$ per Gig	1999 – September Almost a halving in the cost per Gig in this half year.
3.2	231	72.19		4.3	159	36.98
4.3	249	57.91		6.4	191	29.84
5	300	60		8.4	215	25.6
6.4	302	47.19		9	311	34.56
7.6	399	52.5		10.2	271	26.57
8.4	340	40.48		12	290	24.17
9	499	55.44		13.3	301	22.63
10.2	400	39.22		14.4	463	32.15
12	530	44.17		17	349	20.53
13.3	539	40.53		18	537	29.83
17	680	40		20	499	24.95
				25	686	27.44
				32	299	93.72

Size	Price	$ per Gig	2000 - March A huge range of sizes available this half and it is the last time so many drive sizes were advertised. 0.6067 USD	Size	Price	$ per Gig	2000 – September The drive sizes were really starting to commoditize at the top end with sizes designated in nice rounded numbers.
4.3	174	40.47		5	149	29.8
6.4	193	30.16		7.6	164	21.58
8.4	201	23.93		8.4	157	18.69
9	227	25.22		10.2	160	15.69
10.2	227	22.25		13.3	187	14.06
13.3	251	18.87		15	188	12.53
14.4	271	18.82		17	206	12.12
17	286	16.82		20	213	10.65
18	363	20.17		25	368	14.72
20	303	15.15		30	291	9.7
25	411	16.44		45	387	8.6
28.5	437	15.33
30	495	16.5
34.2	640	18.7

Size	Price	$ per Gig	2001 - March A large reduction in the sizes advertised. Only a small improvement in the cost per Gig figure. 0.526202 USD	Size	Price	@ per Gig	2001 – September The best value drive usually resides in the large half of the list but the 30 Gig drvie takes out the prize this time.
10.2	197	19.31		10.2	157	15.39
15	231	15.4		20	169	8.45
20	222	11.1		30	190	6.33
30	257	8.57		40	270	6.75
40	304	7.6		60	415	6.92
45	340	7.56		75	550	7.33

Size	Price	$ per Gig	2002 - March The first appearance of the 80Gig and 120 Gig sizes. These drives are still advertised today giving them a relatively large lifespan of 4 years and counting 0.5177 USD	Size	Price	$ per Gig	2002 – September Sizes are nicely spaced in 20 Gig intervals.
20	168	8.4		40	155	3.88
30	195	6.5		60	188	3.13
40	185	4.65		80	212	2.65
60	239	3.98		100	322	3.22
75	590	7.87		120	383	3.19
80	352	4.4
100	550	5.5
120	750	6.25

Size	Price	$ per Gig	2003 - March This half shows the last improvement in the cost per gig factor for this year. The stagnation that occurs this year is probably due to a reduction in the number of advertisers in APC as well as changing pattern of buyers. 0.613599 USD	Size	Price	$ per Gig	2003 – September By now, most buyers of components like drives would by going direct to suppliers web pages instead of looking for already outdated prices in a print magazine.
40	155	3.88		40	115	2.88
60	135	2.25		60	135	2.25
80	155	1.94		80	155	1.94
100	185	1.85		100	185	1.85
120	195	1.63		120	195	1.63
180	734	4.08		200	375	1.88
200	749	3.75

Size	Price	$ per Gig	2004 - March Something totally unexpected happened in March and September of 2004. Not a single company advertised hard disks in APC for either issue. 0.772499 USD	Size	Price	$ per Gig	2004 – August To get around this problem I paid a visit to the way back machine (AKA webarchive.org) and looked at my favorite online site for disks and prices.
40	90	2.25		80	115	1.45
80	115	1.45		120	145	1.2
120	150	1.25		200	205	1.02
160	200	1.25		250	325	1.3
200	260	1.3
250	400	1.6

Size	Price	$ per Gig	2005 - March The 40 Gig drive represented terrible value at this time with the 80 Gig offering twice the space for only a few dollars more. 0.784701 USD	Size	Price	$ per Gig	2005 – October There trend to fewer drive sizes looks complete with only 5 different sizes advertised during the 2 half yearly sample periods.
40	77	1.93		80	80	1
80	85	1.06		120	110	0.91
120	115	0.96		160	120	0.75
160	145	0.9		200	140	0.7
200	159	0.79		300	230	0.76

Size	Price	$ per Gig	2006 - March APC magazine is no longer the source of any of these prices. It contains almost no adds for disks. I am now using prices from the online store. 0.742898 USD	Size	Price	$ per Gig	2006 – September .
80	80	1
120	115	.96
160	120	.75
200	140	.7
250	160	.64
300	200	.66
400	390	.97
500	560	1.12

Size	Price	$ per Gig	2007 - March 0.7868 USD	Size	Price	$ per Gig	2007
80	70	0.875
160	85	0.875
250	110	0.44
320	140	0.4375
400	220	0.55
500	275	0.55

Size	Price	Gig per $	2008 - March A Slightly better year for disks than last year but only by a little. Note that the price per gig column has been changed to a gigs per price one. I'll be going back and updating the other tables soon for easier comparison. 0.9255 USD	Size	Price	$ per Gig	2008 – September .
80	65	1.23
160	75	2.13
250	90	2.77
320	105	3.05
400	130	3.08
500	145	3.45
750	235	3.19
500	560	1.12

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