Digitimes reports that Acer Laboratories is planning to produce their 20x DVD-ROM reading chip in masses starting in May 2002.
The company has for now the fastest available DVD-ROM chip available and will also start the production of a 32 speed CDRW chip:
Following its success in the DVD player servo chip sector, ALi plans to extend its business scope this year to DVD-ROM and CD-RW chips, set to be launched at the end of the second quarter. The company said that it will adopt the same marketing strategy for its CD-RW line, introducing products with specifications higher than the market mainstream. |
Optical drive manufacturers said that ALi's CD-RW chip is most likely to be a 32x or higher speed product, as the current mainstream is 24x speed and the 32x speed specification now dominates the high-end sector.
Despite its plan to offer a more complete portfolio, ALi said that it would not enter the mature CD-ROM chip market.
I guess the CD(-RW) technology improvements are coming to an end at the moment and most companies will focus on the upcoming DVD technology.
As noticed here only the rewriting part of a CD-RW drive is something that can be improved, most other parts have reached their maximum. The only thing that can increase speeds is multiple laser beams, but talking to some manufacturers this technology seems to be dead.
Source: Digitimes.com
