MET Technology, a major Taiwan manufacturer of key components in optical disc drives, predicts a pretax loss of NT$61.2 million for the first half of this year. During the first quarter of this year, MET was forced to delay production of key component kits for use in 8x DVD burners, resulting in lower gross margins of 3.6% and a pretax loss of NT$52 million for the quarter. Even with gross margins expected to rise to 6.9%, MET still estimates a pretax loss of NT$9.2 million for the second quarter.

However, MET expects its operation to turn profitable beginning in the third quarter. The company began trial production of component kits for 16x DVD burners this month and will start production in small volumes next month. MET will also launch component kits for use in DVD+R DL (double layer) burners in the second half, based on Philips/Ricoh technology.