The intense price competition for the global market of optical disc drives (ODDs) in 2004 will slacken this year because Japanese players have forced out most of Taiwan's second-tier makers and almost all of China's makers, according to Lite-On IT president Danny Liao at press conference on March 4. Liao also indicated that he expects the Japanese players to reduce their own production and rely on OEMs instead.
Lite-On IT shipped 8.05 million half-height (H/H, for desktop PCs) and about four million slim-type (for notebook PCs) DVD burners last year, ranking it a global second and sixth respectively, Liao indicated.
NEC, Pioneer and Matsushita Electric (brand name Panasonic) are currently the only three Japanese players that produce drives for own brand sales and/or OEM clients, Liao noted. As the three have been concentrating resources on developing HD-DVD or Blu-ray Disc next-generation products, they are expected to increasingly reduce own production, Liao said.
This year, Lite-On IT will offer value-added models aiming for better margins, but shipments may be small, Liao indicated. The company expects significant shipment growth this year, with average gross margins falling to 18%-20% due to OEM price drops, Liao pointed out.
Story source: http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20050307A6028.html
Looking
for a good DVD Copy Software? Read the latest