BenQ sees competitive advantage over other drive makers on IP licenses

November 1, 2004

GristyMcFisty used our news submit to tell us that BenQ expects to have a competitive advantage over
other Taiwan-based DVD recorder manufacturers. The company is in a joint venture
with Royal Dutch Philips which has a large intellectial property collection from
which also BenQ profits. Certainly when it comes to optical storage products
Philips has a great collection e.g. on DVD+R writing.

With
Philips being a patent holder for DVD technology, BenQ does not have to
worry about royalty payments. Other ODD ventures possessing their own IP
(intellectual property) include Hitachi-LG Data Storage (HLDS) and
Toshiba-Samsung Storage Technology (TSST). Except for BenQ, other Taiwan
manufacturers will be at a disadvantage in the market next year, unless
they can develop strategic partnerships with DVD IP holders, Lee
said.

BenQ is rapidly becoming more and more popular on our forums.
Certainly their latest drive is able to compete with other big names such as NEC
and Pioneer.

Source: Digitimes