Lead Data, a second-tier optical disc manufacturer in Taiwan, will expand its monthly DVD-R/+R disc production capacity to 15 million discs by year-end from five million units currently, according to DigiTimes.com. Lead Data’s domestic factory produces DVD-R/+R and CD-R discs, while its factory in Hong Kong makes CD-R discs only. In addition, the company has an EMS (electronic manufacturing services) factory in China, mainly producing motherboards and interface cards.

Lead Data’s domestic production capacity of CD-R discs will remain at 30 million discs a month this year, Lin said. In addition to the DVD-R/+R disc capacity expansion, the company will increase its Hong Kong factory’s monthly CD-R disc production capacity to 10 million by year-end from six million units presently, Lin noted.

Lead Data’s spokesperson said the company would extend its China factory’s EMS production to set-top boxes (STBs) and motherboards used in LCD monitors. Philips and LG Electronics (LGE) are two major clients for the China factory.

Lead Data began to shift the speed of its DVD-R/+R discs from 4x entirely to 8x in February, aiming to achieve higher profitability and mitigate the effect of falling prices for 4x DVD discs. General OEM prices of DVD-R/+R discs stand at US$0.80-0.90 currently.

For CD-R discs, OEM prices appear to be stable at US$0.17-0.18 per disc as quoted by top makers and at US$0.15 quoted by second-tier ones due to growing global demand. Although makers of CD-R discs in China and Malaysia are increasing production capacity, they are not licensed by international brands such as Philips and therefore their prices cannot affect the OEM market.