Although several leading global brands have already launched or will soon offer 18x DVD burners, CMC Magnetics and Ritek, Taiwan's top two makers of optical discs, currently produce 18x DVD+R/-R discs only in limited volumes and the supply may fall significantly short of global demand, according to industry sources.
Plextor, Lite-On IT, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Sony, NEC and BenQ currently offer 18x DVD burners while Pioneer and Asustek Computer will do so soon. The sources indicated that 18x DVD burners may begin to replace 16x models to become the mainstream DVD burner next quarter, the sources indicated.
However, the global supply of 18x DVD+R/-R discs appear to be lagging, the sources pointed out. CMC and Ritek are able to immediately start volume production of 18x DVD+R/-R discs as long as the market demand is large enough, the two companies said.
Because of relatively high prices, 18x DVD+R/-R discs will not become popular until 2007, the industry sources noted.
Story source:
digitimes.com.
