Taiwan OD makers turn to pre-recorded discs for profit

February 17, 2005

Over at DigiTimes they are reporting that several second-tier
manufacturers of blank optical discs in Taiwan are trying to shift their
production to pre-recorded optical discs. Driven by flat or even
money-losing production of blank discs, looks like they might try their hand at
something new.

For
these makers, it is easy to adjust manufacturing equipment and processes
for blank optical discs for production of pre-recorded discs, but not so
easy to land orders, local market experts commented. Due to a lack of
trust, international movie producers are unlikely to place OEM orders with
them, leaving only a few possible business opportunities, such as local
commercial advertising, political elections, promotion of public benefit
(such as charity) and government propaganda, local market experts
noted.

Supply is still very good for optical
discs, keeping price quotations too low to satisfy manufacturers. As a strategy
to let supplies shrink, makers have obtained or applied for approval from the
Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) to produce pre-recorded optical
discs.

Source: DigiTimes