Computer Storage Market Returns to Growth in 2010
After suffering a decline 2009, global revenue from shipments of Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) and Optical Disk Drives (ODDs) used in computers is expected to grow in 2010 as PC shipments rise on the strength of the economic recovery, according to iSuppli Corp.

Worldwide revenue from shipments of HDDs used in computer applications is expected to amount to $27.7 billion in 2010, up 18.4 percent from $23.4 billion in 2009.Computer-oriented ODD revenue will increase to $14.8 billion in 2010, up 7.6 percent from $13.7 billion in 2009. In comparison, computer-oriented HDD revenue declined by 11.7 percent in 2009, while that of ODD decreased by 6.3 percent.

"The 2010 economic recovery will bring rising sales of PCs," said Fang Zhang, analyst for storage systems at iSuppli. "The notebook sector is expected to be particularly strong, with shipments outgrowing those of desktops. This will drive the robust increase in HDD shipments."

Other factors contributing to the rise in demand in 2010 include new server purchases and the migration to 2.5-inch HDDs in data centers to achieve cost reductions. Furthermore, the adoption of Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system by the enterprise business segment is helping to propel PC sales. Shipments also are continuing to rise for external drives used for the storage of gaming, music and movies.

iSuppli expects HDD revenue for computers in the first quarter of 2010 to decrease slightly to $6.6 billion, down from $6.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009, reflecting the normal seasonal slowdown. However, HDD revenue is set to recover to the fourth-quarter 2009 level by the second quarter of 2010.

The computer-oriented ODD market, on the other hand, won't recover to its fourth quarter of 2009 revenue level of $4.1 billion during any single quarter of 2010. However, the market will grow on an annual basis in 2010.

Furthermore, beginning in the fourth quarter, ODD revenue will gradually rise as demand increases for gaming, movies and high-quality sound systems.


Source: CDRinfo

Labels: archiving. DVD, Disc Media, mf digital, optical storage

- posted by MF Digital Marketing @ 12:24 PM

 
Inexpensive Blu-Ray Players to Hit U.S. Shelves
According to the latest industry information, Blu-Ray players are expected to hit the $99 barrier somewhere next year.

The average selling price of Blu-ray players has been falling steadily -- it's now about $200 -- and there's little doubt that prices will keep dropping as Blu-ray goes mainstream and player shipments increase. But one report says the average price for entry-level Blu-ray players may to drop to as little as $99 in the very near future.

According to a Blu-ray.com report, Chinese manufacturers are preparing to enter the market for the high-definition video players, and this development could mean very aggressive prices for low-end Blu-ray hardware. The Blu-ray Disc Association recently began licensing Blu-ray technology in China, a move that has led Samsung marketing director Mark Leathan to speculate that $99 players aren't far off, the report states.

"Black Friday, maybe. It's entirely possible you could see a few players down at that price level," says Baker, who adds that it's a little early to speculate about holiday prices. The industry will have a better idea of holiday pricing by mid-summer.

Another issue is just how stripped down those entry-level Blu-ray players might be. It's unlikely that established players such as Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony will sell sub-$100 Blu-ray players, but rather they'll leave the low end to the Chinese upstarts and other value-sector brands like Magnavox and Sylvania, the Blu-ray.com report says.

Source: CDRinfo

Labels: Blu-ray, Blu-ray Duplicators, mf digital

- posted by MF Digital Marketing @ 3:15 PM

 
Sony opens Blu-ray plant in China
Just two months after Sony Pictures Home Entertainment announced it will begin to offer select Blu-ray movies to the Chinese market, Sony has opened a Blu-ray manufacturing plant in Shanghai, China.

Sony will work with the Shanghai Media Group to produce up to 500,000 Blu-ray discs per month at the 130,000 square foot facility. The Japanese electronics company hopes to have 200 full-time employees working at the new facility as soon as possible.

At least 32 Blu-ray movie titles are already available in China, with Sony aiming to have 100 released before the end of 2009. Sony already has Blu-ray disc plants in the United States, Japan and Austria.

Sony's likely going to have to restructure and cut more jobs, and the Chinese market is flooded with $1 illegal DVDs, so it will be interesting to see if both companies involved will be able to convince consumers to spend up to $30 per Blu-ray disc.

Having a manufacturing plant in the country will allow Sony to better combat piracy by avoiding import permits and taxes while also releasing movies to consumers faster. Blu-ray is growing in the country, with Pioneer, Panasonic and Sony importing Blu-ray players into the market -- China Hualu also has three Blu-ray players that have been made inside China.


Source: CDRFreaks

Labels: Blu-ray, Blu-ray Duplicators, Disc Media, mf digital

- posted by MF Digital Marketing @ 1:12 PM

 
New ISO standard Gives Recommendations For Care of Optical Discs
A new International Standard establishes general principles and gives recommendations for the care and handling of optical disks during use with a view to maximizing their effective life.

ISO 18938:2008 establishes general principles for the care and handling of digital optical discs during use. It addresses the issues of physical integrity of the medium necessary to preserve access to the recorded data (information).

It applies to the families of compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), high definition digital versatile disc (HD DVD), Blu-ray disc (BD), and any hybrids of these families, as well as each type of disc within a family, e.g. injection moulded [read-only memory (ROM)], dye-layer [recordable (R)] and phase change [rewriteable (RW), random access memory (RAM)] technologies.

As with other media there are concerns about the life expectancy of recorded information on optical discs which, like paper records, photographic film and magnetic tape, can be subject to both damage and decay.

ISO 18938:2008 addresses the issues of physical integrity of the medium necessary to preserve access to the recorded data. These include use and handling environments, including pollutants, temperature and humidity and light exposure, contamination concerns inspection, cleaning and maintenance, including cleaning methods and frequency, transportation disasters, including water, fire, construction and post-disaster procedures as well as staff training.

The effective life of optical disks can also be increased or decreased significantly depending upon the conditions under which they are stored.

Source: CDRinfo

Labels: Disc Media, DVD CD-R DVD-R, mf digital

- posted by MF Digital Marketing @ 10:18 AM

 
Taiyo Yuden Showcases 4x LTH Blu-ray Media
Taiyo Yuden had on display at the Ceatec show in Japan the industry's first LTH Blu-ray media that support recording at 4x.

The LTH write-once BD-R media feature an organic dye recording layer, making them different that the currently available BD-R discs that use inorganic materials. The "Low to High" (LTH, in groove recording) specifications for recording at 2x/4x have been released by the Blu-ray Disc Association.

Taiyo Yuden's second generation of BD-R LTH discs will be also supporting recording at 2x. They are expected in the market in the end of the year.

Current Blu-Ray drives and recorders cannot read the LTH BD-R discs. That because the reproduced signal while reading the discs has a LTH (Low to High) polarity. However, new hardware as well as firmware upgrades to existing players/recorders could add support for LTH recording.

The advantages of the LTH manufacturing technology is that it can be applied without requiring large-scale manufacturing plant investments, allowing for using modified CD-R and DVD-R manufacturing equipment.

Mitsubishi Kagaku Media and Hitachi Maxell are also expected to release LTH BD-Rs this year. Pioneer and Mitsubishi Chemical Media fist announced the development of the first LTH discs last year. Fuji Photo Film is also expected to release LTH BD-R discs this year.

Source: CDRinfo

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Labels: Blu-ray, Blu-ray Duplicators, mf digital

- posted by MF Digital Marketing @ 1:20 PM

 
Blu-ray year-to-June sales up 300% over 2007
In the first six months of this year, consumer purchasing of DVD and Blu-ray discs generated $10.1 billion in sales combined, which remains unchanged over the same 2007 period despite the hard economic times the movie industry is bracing for. The studios give credit to the growing sales of Blu-ray for keeping up the overall sales, with $200 million worth of Blu-ray movie sales in the first 6 months of the year, up 300% over the same period in 2007, according to this Video Business report.

According to 20th Century Fox's president Mike Dunn, Blu-ray sales now accounts for 8% of its overall movie sales. The studio expects this figure to reach between 10% and 12% by the end of the year. He also mentioned that retailers have widened their movie retail space by 5% to cater for Blu-ray discs, without cutting back on their existing DVD retail space either. The Sony president, David Bishop also commented on the growing Blu-ray sections in major retail stores.

Source: CDFreaks

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Labels: Blu-ray, Blu-ray Duplicators, mf digital

- posted by MF Digital Marketing @ 11:04 AM

 
Philips Reducing CD Rewritable Royalty Fees
Philips announced several days ago they will reduce the royalty rate for those in compliance for the CD Rewritable disc licensing fee. The decrease is nearly half at 44%. The old fee was 0.045 per disc and with a drop of USD 0.02 the new rate will be 0.025.

The move is in a continued effort of Philips trying to bring manufacturers up-to-date with compliance standings. The reduction shall be available to all licensees who are in full compliance with the terms and conditions of their license agreement with Philips. The reduction shall initially be valid from the 4th quarter of 2007.

MF Digital duplication equipment fully supports burning to rewritable media.

Labels: duplication equipment, mf digital, scribe

- posted by MF Digital Marketing @ 1:48 PM