8x slim-type DVD burners to become mainstream by mid-2005

December 7, 2004

GristyMcFisty used our news submit to tell us about this article he
read over at DigiTimes. Looks like the DVD drives will overtake the combo drive
by second half of next year

Currently, notebook PCs equipped with 8x DVD burners are mostly business-use models, with retail prices of NT$60,000-70,000 (US$1,863-2,174), according to BenQ's Taiwan managing director Danny Yao.

However, the Taiwan ODD makers predict
that notebook PCs with 8x slim-type DVD burners will be available for
NT$40,000-50,000 (US$1,242-1,553) early next year, which will push
notebook models using Combo drives toward the lower end of the market.

In addition, notebooks equipped with DVD
burners have slowly been making their way into the market, and will
account for 20% of the notebook market in the fourth quarter of this year,
up from 10% in the third quarter, as estimated by the Taiwan ODD makers.
Asustek Computer has adopted 8x slim-type DVD burners for several of its
notebook PCs, the company pointed out.

Oddly, the article
goes on to say Acer is holding out. They say that most notebook users in
their opinion don't need the DVD writing capability yet. Maybe so! But if price
has anything to do with it in the scheme of things, a DVD writer is there if you
need it for just a pittance more. If I were Acer I might think this through
again.

Source: DigiTimes