Digitimes reports that Lite-On IT and JVC are going to build a pickup head (PUH) production in China. The two companies will build their PUH initiative by sharing DVD patents and manufacturing technology and working together to promote sales, Lite-On IT said.
The company declined to reveal the planned capacity for the PUH production site.
Through the venture, Lite-On IT, currently the world's third-largest manufacturer of optical storage drives (after Samsung Electronics and roughly tied with LG Electronics), hopes to gain unfettered access to the key optical component to cut inventory and risks. The venture will also help JVC compete more effectively with consumer electronics rivals like Sony, Panasonic and Sanyo, which enjoy a cost advantage with their own production of PUHs. |
Lite-On IT said it is in talks with chip designers such as Mediatek and VIA Technologies to make chipsets specifically for its DVD-ROM PUHs. It will foster closer ties with Mediatek, which provides controller chipsets to Hitachi, Lite-On IT's current PUH supplier, in its efforts to develop new optical storage products, the company said.
To make its products competitive, Lite-On IT is aiming to push its DVD-ROM products down to US$30, compared with the current per-unit quote of US$40. The cost benefits of supplying its own PUHs, enlarged production scale and lowered licensing fees from its partnership with JVC, a DVD patent holder, will make that pricing possible, the company said.
For us, consumers, this seems to mean cheaper drives, and I guess nobody will have bad feelings about that Read the entire article on Digitimes here.
Source: Digitimes.com
