That said, the Street is getting a little nervous about the impact on the company in coming quarters from supply constraints.

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South Africa is crucial to the platinum market, accounting for roughly three-quarters of global mine supply annually.

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The country provides around three-quarters of the global mine supply.

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Seagate said that, due to industry impacts caused by flooding in Thailand, hard disk drive supply will be constrained for several quarters.

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While both Seagate and Western Digital have previously warned that drives would be in short supply for at least the next several quarters, the news apparently had not trickled down into the EPS estimates for the PC-related stocks.

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About three-quarters of the food, fuel and other provisions that supply American troops pass through Pakistan.

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The main reason for Apple announcing a lower gross margin outlook for Q3 was the uncertainty behind the raw material supply chain issues prevailing during the last few quarters due to the Japan tragedy.

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More important than this small revision, growth in the past two quarters partly reflects rising inventories, a sign that demand has fallen behind supply.

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As a result, the Street expects Seagate to gain substantial market share, and to benefit from what will likely be a spike in drive pricing as supply falls well short of demand for at least the next few quarters.

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On the supply-side data, industrial-sector output also increased for two consecutive quarters.

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