Benq, AOpen and Ultima Electronics produce DVD+RW drives

[Kennyshin]

DigiTimes COMPUTEX Special
June 6, 2002
http://www.digitimes.com/C2/C2_print.asp?datePublish=2002/06/05&pages=C2&seq=415

CD-RW

Falling CD disc prices, coupled with growing consumer interest in recording data and multimedia content at home, have boosted the popularity of the CD recording device. Benq (formerly Acer Communications & Multimedia), Lite-On IT and AOpen all reported revenue growth after weighting their product mix towards CD-RW drives. Lite-On IT, in particular, has been thriving on its OEM business to become the world’s leading supplier of CD-RW drives.

The Taiwan-based Photonics Industry Technology & Development Association predicts that Taiwan will take up a 31% global market share with 17.64 million CD-RW drives shipped this year, up from 21% last year.

However, some industry executives caution about oversupply in the second half of the year as a result of ramped-up capacity by Taiwan manufacturers and South Korea-based Samsung. Another potentially negative factor is the aggressive push of 40x and 48x products by some manufacturers, a move with the implications of hurting sales of the mainstream 24x and 32x drives.

DVD player
Demand in DVD players has been growing as media houses release music, video and game titles supporting the DVD format and sales of game console machines spur demand in DVD players. However, their profits this year could take a blow as the world’s main DVD technology owners step up efforts to enforce collection of royalty payments.

To drive down DVD patent royalties, Taiwan’s top-tier drive makers have been in talks with major patent holders in hopes to negotiate favorable terms. Lite-On IT has formed an alliance with JVC, AOpen with Ricoh, and Benq with Phillips and Pioneer. Companies that have not obtained technology licensing would have to make do with producing only hardware, like chipsets, pick-up heads (PUHs), spindle motors and loader trays, that does not directly involve patented technology.

The industry outlook for DVD players this year is conservative. However, Benq could see more room for growth because it handles part of the manufacturing for Philips, which makes DVD players for Microsoft’s Xbox game consoles. Earlier reports of faulty drives by other contract manufacturers have sparked speculation that that more orders may be transferred to Benq in the future.

Combo drive

Growth in combo drives that combine CD-RW and DVD-ROM drives should be limited because the product is still expensive. Manufacturers said the coming years have little room for price cuts because of the products’ high costs related to royalty fees and the complex technology that they require.

Currently CD-RW/DVD-ROM drives come in a “slim-type” to configure with notebook computers. The products’ high price points make them less likely to used in desktop PCs. In Taiwan, only Quanta Storage has the capability to produce the combo drive in scale. Therefore, growth prospects in this segment could be quite limited.

Rewritable DVD

Rewritable DVD technology is dogged with compatibility problems and it remains hard to predict which standard will prevail. The camps of DVD-RAM and DVD-RW will join to promote a new format called DVD-Multi to contest the DVD-Dual standard sponsored by DVD+RW and DVD-RW proponents. Industry observers say eventually the choice of major software and media producers, and the reaction of consumers to prices of the individual disc formats, will determine which will prevail in the rewritable DVD industry. Already, Dell Computer, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Sony and Microsoft sponsor the DVD+RW format.

Currently Benq, AOpen and Ultima Electronics all have started producing DVD+RW drives, but it is still hard to calculate their products’ market demand due to the conflicting standards.


Source: Nikkei Market Access, compiled by DigiTimes, January 2002.

For more complete Computex Taipei 2002 Coverage:
http://www.dvdplusrw.org/cgi/ikonboard/topic.cgi?forum=2&topic=1651&start=70

[vitualis]

This is a bulletin board, not a hardware news site...

We know you like DVD+RW. You don't have to prove it to us...

Regards.

[Kennyshin]

This is a bulletin board, not a hardware news site...

We know you like DVD+RW. You don't have to prove it to us...

Regards.

You mean I do not belong to that "we" and we have be excluded from your we or what?

You seem to have some serious allergy to DVDplusRW or something.

What is a bulletin board for? VCDHelp.com doesn't allow its forum members to post DVD recorder-related things in its CD/DVD writer section?

Why don't you just add DigiTimes is also spreading hype and misinformation about DVDplusRW? Microsoft and ZDNET as well.

[Kennyshin]

In Japan, DVD+RW drives have been sold for around $200 and DVD+R/+RW drives for around $300.

BenQ, AOpen, and Ultima are all Taiwan-based ODD manufacturers and they are better at making and distributing cheaper drives. LiteOn, Asustek, BTC, CyberDrive, and a few others will also soon release DVD+R/+RW drives. Samsung and LG are waiting till the end of this year before going into massive production of any kind (I mean over one million units a month).

Therefore, I expect average DVD+R/+RW/+MRW drive price will be around $100 to $150 in the fourth quarter of this year.

In the US market, Sony DRU120A and Ricoh MP5125A are more correctly priced than others, still more expensive than in Japan though.

[MoovyGuy]

This is a bulletin board, not a hardware news site...

We know you like DVD+RW. You don't have to prove it to us...

Regards.

I thought this site answered to the names vcdhelp.com, svcdhelp.com and dvdrhelp.com. dvdr sounds awfully generic to me, dosen't say dash or plus.

Where does it say that this site does not accept posts regarding +R/RW technology.

Forum status aside, the "+" recording technology is just as legitimate as the "-" technology was two years ago.

I thought that we were all tech enthusiasts here. Just because the "+" technology is not YOUR personal choice, dosen't exclude it being someone elses choice.

Da MoovyGuy

[vitualis]

Firstly, I am completely indifferent to DVD+RW or DVD-RW and I don't plan to buy either.

If you are going to impudate some sort of political agenda, at least make it logical.

The issue, however, this is NOT a general hardware news site. If you want to post news, at least post something that is intersting and pertinent.

Stuff like:

Falling CD disc prices, coupled with growing consumer interest in recording data and multimedia content at home, have boosted the popularity of the CD recording device. Benq (formerly Acer Communications & Multimedia), Lite-On IT and AOpen all reported revenue growth after weighting their product mix towards CD-RW drives. Lite-On IT, in particular, has been thriving on its OEM business to become the world’s leading supplier of CD-RW drives.

... is all good and well if someone asks you the question that warrants this sort of information. However, there is no need to start up a new thread on it... especially if you've already posted exactly the SAME information somewhere else: http://forum.vcdhelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=268830#268830

Regards.

[Kennyshin]

Firstly, I am completely indifferent to DVD+RW or DVD-RW and I don't plan to buy either.

If you are going to impudate some sort of political agenda, at least make it logical.

The issue, however, this is NOT a general hardware news site. If you want to post news, at least post something that is intersting and pertinent.

Stuff like:

Falling CD disc prices, coupled with growing consumer interest in recording data and multimedia content at home, have boosted the popularity of the CD recording device. Benq (formerly Acer Communications & Multimedia), Lite-On IT and AOpen all reported revenue growth after weighting their product mix towards CD-RW drives. Lite-On IT, in particular, has been thriving on its OEM business to become the world’s leading supplier of CD-RW drives.

... is all good and well if someone asks you the question that warrants this sort of information. However, there is no need to start up a new thread on it... especially if you've already posted exactly the SAME information somewhere else: http://forum.vcdhelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=268830#268830

Regards.

You personally sound paranoid. I don't think you are good as a moderator here. Not for a CD/DVD writer forum I mean.

[vitualis]

Perhaps you should look up what "paranoid" means.

If you make a personal attack, at least have it make sense.

Regards.