Lite-On IT and BenQ land OEM DVD+RW drive orders

August 28, 2003

According to DigiTimes sources, Lite-On IT and BenQ have captured the
OEM orders for 4x speed DVD+RW drives from both Fujitsu Siemens Computers and
Hewlett-Packard, signaling local producers' strength in competing for the market
currently dominated by Japanese companies such as Pioneer, NEC and Ricoh.
Howwever, neither Taiwanese company would confirm the orders.

Lite-On
IT's shipments to Fujitsu Siemens Computers were expected to start this
month. Lite-On IT has started volume production of DVD+RW drives, with
shipments estimated at 90,000 units this month and around 250,000 next
month, according to Michael Gong, general manager of the company's optical
disc drive business unit. With deliveries to many new clients scheduled to
begin next quarter, the company is maintaining its full-year target of
shipping one million DVD+RW drives.

BenQ's shipments of 4x speed DVD+RW drives
will grow from 40,000-50,000 units this month to over 100,000 units next
month and 200,000 units per month next quarter, the company
said.

The report goes on to say that in addition
to local companies, Samsung Electronics and Hitachi-LG Data Storage are ready to
compete for the international DVD+RW drive market as well. A result of
increasing competition among makers in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, the OEM
price of 4x DVD+RW drives dropped to 95-100 dollars US per unit. Japanese
manufacturers each ship about 300,000-400,000 recordable DVD drives per
month.

Source: digitimes.com