Mitsubishi Electric, Japan, plans to increase red laser diode production by 40% next March. The report says that although the company has already ramped up production from 1 million to 3.5 million units per month this year, this supply is insufficient to meet demand created by the rapid adoption of recordable DVD drives.

From next March, Mitsubishi will produce 5 million units per month. A Taiwanese firm will conduct post-processing on the diodes to assemble finished products for supply to optical pick-up module manufacturers.

Mitsubishi estimates that it holds around a 70% share of the global market for such diodes. It expects sales of around 20 billion yen ($183 million) from its DVD laser business in fiscal 2004.