I was coming here to remind those about the Thai HDD floods, but you beat me to it. That was hell for the computer company I worked for at the time. Prior to those floods, HDD prices usually only declined over time. We never stocked more than a weeks worth of inventory, unless we could be assured that we were buying at the absolute best price available for the next 30 days cycle.
We had a client that we resold drives to that owned a small mom and pop store in the country, but did rather well. He like the opposite method. He liked to have the same items for many months. He didn't like keeping up with trends. Rather, he like to keep the same parts stocked for a long time, regardless of price.
Just before the floods, we sold him hundreds of hard drives, which he intended on keeping him stocked for the next six months to a year. As soon as the flood hit, prices went through the roof. He ended up selling those drives for a HUGE profit. In fact, the sale of those drives bought him a new Vette.