近几周以来肆虐泰国、马来西亚与越南等地的洪水持续恶化，也让该地区的电子制造商与组装业者饱受威胁，甚至使得国际供应链的几个重要连结被截断；以下是相关讯息的整理。
总部位于槟城（Penang）的马来西亚硬盘供货商Eng Teknologi，因为邻近泰国边界，已经向投资人发出警告表示，该公司因水患导致的停工仍然持续，其严重性已经达到了使该公司第四季营收转亏的程度。而其供应链也受到波及，据报导，该公司的菲律宾合作伙伴因为Eng的出货延迟，已经导致减产。
消费性电子大厂Sony位于泰国的三座工厂，目前有两座是关闭状态；其它国际厂商包括Hitachi、Seagate与 Cannon等也面临类似的停工情况。
受水患影响最严重的是位于曼谷附近的两个大型工业园区，包括Bang Pa-in工业园区以及Navanakorn工业园区；多个业界消息指出，Bang Pa-in工业园区淹水严重，连制造设备与整个组装生产线都泡在水里，恐怕需要大幅重新整修甚至换新才能恢复量产。
此一本世纪最严重水患，让本来就处于供应短缺的硬盘产业雪上加霜；去年硬盘出货量超过5,000万台的大厂WD日前表示该公司位于曼谷附近的所有生产据点都将停工，此举将导致当地3万7,000员工突然无事可做。
数码相机与影像产业也受天灾波及，包括正准备推出年度新机种的Nikon与Sony。对此Nikon的态度谨慎，拒绝证实或反驳任何水患可能导致其APS-C系列新款数码相机延后上市的消息；不过根据相关报导，Nikon表示该公司位于曼谷之外的Ayuthaya厂房淹水两层楼高。Sony则表示其A65与NEX-7两款新机的亚洲市场出货将延迟，北美出货是否受影响有待评估。
水灾所导致的人力成本损失仍在估计中，但泰国曼谷与马来西亚槟城地区电子组装厂、制造厂的成千上万劳工，短期之内恐怕都失去生计。
随着水患持续扩大，各家厂商也对受影响区域的复工期做出数个不同预测，但一切恐怕得等一周后当地情况改善、可着手进行善后清理工作，才会明朗化；至少一个月的延迟出货是可预期的。据了解，目前东南亚地区的洪水已经夺走三百条以上的人命。
Thai Floods Devastate Supply Chain
Marc Herman, Freelance Writer
The floods that worsened this week across Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam are threatening to devastate the region"s electronics manufacturers and assemblers, cutting important links to several international supply chains. Here"s an update on where things stand for some key suppliers:
Malaysian Eng Teknologi, a hard drives supplier based in Penang, on the Thai border, has issued a warning to investors that flood-related stoppages are continuing and are now severe enough to put the company into the red for the fourth quarter. The ripples are already being felt up the chain. Partners in the Philippines have already reported slowdowns resulting from delayed shipments from Eng.
Two of three Sony plants in Thailand are currently closed. Similar closures have affected Hitachi, Seagate, and Canon, among others.
The primary facilities affected are two large industrial parks: Bang Pa-in Industrial Park and Navanakorn Industrial Park, both near Bangkok. Multiple reports say the flooding was so bad in Bang Pa-in that manufacturing equipment and entire assembly lines are under water today and will likely need to be extensively repaired or replaced before production can resume.
The difficulties in Thailand could not have come at a worse time for some sub-chains within Asia"s electronics supply industry. An acute shortage of disk drives across the industry is almost certain to be compounded by these worst-in-a-century floods. Western Digital, or WD, one of the world"s largest HDD supplies, reported a few days ago that it would be shutting production at all its Bangkok-area facilities. The shutdown represents the sudden idling of more than 37,000 workers, who shipped more than 50 million drives last year.
The camera and imaging industry has been among the industries with the most worrisome exposure to the disaster. The floods have come just as industry giants Nikon and Sony were finishing up production for the upcoming new model-year launches.
Nikon has tread cautiously so far, refusing to confirm or deny reports that the flood will push back the launch of new models of its popular APS-C series cameras. The company did say, according to several reports, that its factory in Ayuthaya, outside Bangkok, is under water to the second floor. Sony said its Asian customers will experience delays in two highly-anticipated new models, the A65 and NEX-7, but it has not finished evaluating whether its North American shipments will be affected.
The human cost of the floods is still being calculated. It"s safe to say that several hundred thousand Thais and Malaysians who work in the assembly and manufacturing plants outside Bangkok and Penang have lost their livelihoods for the near term. With the disaster still unfolding, OEMs are making few predictions about the likely delays in restarting production in the affected areas, but it could be as long as another week before conditions on the ground improve enough for cleanup to begin. Delays of at least a month appear likely in many cases.
More than 300 people have died in the disaster so far across Southeast Asia
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