ricoman used our news submit to tell us that a BenQ representative has told a journalist of Heise Online that BenQ will pull out of the European optical drive market. The last DVD burner that will be sold by the BenQ brand is the DW-1670. Also the Blu-ray burner the company has announced will not be made. Support and warranty are continued, including the release of firmware updates for current customers, as the company will continue on other markets.
The reason for BenQ to pull out the European optical drive market is the low margins on the drives due the highly competitive market.
Ricoman adds: ' It"s sad to see a quality optical drive manufacturer back out. If true, I would expect the American to be next.'
On our forums a thread of BenQ users shows that many see this as bad news. However BenQ will likely deliver their technology to their Lite-On/Philips joint venture/over take.
Source: Heise
