The optical storage industry can expect to have better times in the upcoming months, this is what Digitimes reports. In August the sales of optical storage devices has grown, and the expectations for the 4th quarter of 2002 are also positive:
With dashed hopes of a back-to-school boom in demand, optical storage companies have pinned their hopes on the Christmas selling season. ALi Corporation (formerly Acer Laboratories) indicated that Christmas season orders have already begun to surface, though since orders are small, visibility remains low, at one to two weeks. |
Moreover, due to lower utilization at foundries currently, turnaround time on production has been faster. Thus, the outlook for Christmas demand may not be known until late September or early October, said industry sources.
Prices should remain relatively stable this quarter, they added.
VIA Technologies plans to begin CD-RW chipset volume production at the end of this year or early next year and DVD-ROM single chip volume production in the beginning of the fourth quarter. Mediatek is scheduled to enter volume production of DVD-RW chipsets in the fourth quarter. ALi's DVD-ROM single chips should begin volume production no later than October.
Source: Digitimes.com
