Lite-On and BenQ also to produce Lightscribe drives for HP

January 20, 2005

It seems
that Lite-On and BenQ are joining the ranks of LG in becoming a manufacturer
that will produce CD/DVD recorders with Lightscribe technology enabling users to
write labels at the labelside of media using the laser of the CD/DVD recorder.
Digitimes reports that BenQ would become responsible for internal models
and Lite-On for external models that will be sold by the HP brand and will first
become available in HP desktop PCs. CMC Magnetics is the first Taiwanese company
to manufacture Lightscribe media, joining the Japanese Verbatim company.

Lite-On
IT and BenQ declined to comment on the report but indicated that HP Taiwan
will hold a press conference to introduce LightScribe to local sales
channels on January 26.LightScribe, a technology exclusively owned by HP,
is for directly etching labels onto the non-recordable side of an optical
disc, using the laser beam of the burner that writes to the recordable
side of the disc.

BenQ and Lite-On IT join CMC Magnetics, Taiwan's largest
producer of optical disks, as the only Taiwan OEM makers of HP's
LightScribe CD-R and DVD-R disks, according to the makers. For marketing
purposes, HP will restrict availability of external LightScribe-enabling
16x DVD burners to own-brand retail sale and internal models to HP PCs
this quarter, the makers pointed out. Then, HP will offer its LightScribe
patent under licensed use by other burner makers, beginning the second
quarter of this year, the makers indicated. The royalty charge may be
US$2-3 per burner.

Digitimes also notes that the marketability of LightScribe-enabed drives might
be difficult due high royality fees, relative bad picture quality and the long
time needed to finish a disc (up to 15 minutes per disc using a 16x
burner), however HP has said it will keep improving the technology and will has
a color version under development.

Source: Digitimes.com