Although Taiwan manufacturers are beginning to market HDD+DVD recorders, leading makers of DVD discs do not think the products will affect demand for DVD discs in the short term, according to the disc makers.

Lite-On IT will soon begin shipping 80GB HDD+DVD recorders, according to the company’s general sales agent Gish International. Gish plans to promote the HDD+DVD recorders as a mainstream model in the fourth quarter of this year, company chairman Garry Chen indicated.

However, top optical disc makers in Taiwan, including CMC Magnetics, Ritek and Prodisc Technology, point out that DVD recorders with hard disks are currently much more expensive than DVD recorders without hard disks. Taiwan brands are priced about NT$10,000 (US$294) higher, while Japanese brands sell as high as NT$20,000 (US$588) more, the disc makers pointed out. The companies think most consumers will prefer DVD-R burners with DVD-R discs to HDD+DVD recorders.

However, although retail prices of DVD recorders have dropped below NT$8,000 (US$235), sales have not increased. According to sources in the local sales channel, the reason is that compatibility issues among the various products and DVD formats confuse potential buyers. These sources believe consumers will prefer HDD+DVD recorders, as they are easier to use.

From DigiTimes