2002 worldwide DVD disc sales can rise up to 1.8 billion units

According to an article on DigiTimes.com worldwide DVD disc sales can rise up to 1.8 billion (!) units this year. Main causes can be found in robust sales of DVD-ROM drives, DVD players and game consoles says Steven Chang, CEO of Taiwan-based DVD and CD-ROM disc replicator U-tech Media:

According to Chang, the upstream DVD drive manufacturers' low-price approach has been pushing prices down across the board since the second half of last year. In the US, retail prices of DVD-ROM drives have dropped under US$20, with those of DVD players falling under $58.

The utilization rate at U-tech Media's production lines slid from 100% late last year to 70-80% in the first quarter of 2002, but the seasonal pattern of the pre-recorded media industry should help shipments go up substantially starting mid-year, Chang said. Anticipating expanding capacity in the future, the company plans to issue additional stock to raise NT$300 million, at a price of NT$50 per share.

The benefits of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) management that the company introduced last year have started to reflect on the bottom line. Total production costs have been reduced by 20%, overall gross margin has grown to over 30% and the time taken to produce a pre-recorded DVD-Video disc has narrowed to less than four seconds, according to Chang.

Source: DigiTimes.com