Quanta Storage ranks top in global combo drive shipments in 3Q
Quanta Storage, Taiwan’s largest slim-type optical drive maker, snatched first place in the global combo drive market in the third quarter, surpassing market leader LG Electronics (LGE) and improving its position in the overall slim-type drive market.
Combo drives are drives that combine CD-RW and DVD-ROM compatibility.
Company president Chien Jen-jie said that combo drives as a proportion of its total shipments doubled in the third quarter from the second quarter. They occupied nearly 60% of its total slim-type drive shipments in the third quarter. In October alone, the company shipped 200,000 combo drives, Chien said.
As the proportion continues to grow, Chien expects the company will capture a 20% share of the global combo drive market this year, which has an estimated scale of 12 million units, and a 25% share next year in a market of 24 million units.
He said the company’s market share will increase next year because of the gradually stabilizing price and the retreat of several leading Japanese makers. In addition, new players will lag behind for six months and will not be able to launch products immediately, Chien added.
Chien said the company has advantages in key components over other Taiwanese companies. Its pick-up heads (PUHs) are supplied by Sharp.
In slim-type optical drive shipments, Japan-based Matsushita Kotobuki Electronics Industries (MKE) and Toshiba are first-tier players, shipping 250,000 units per months, followed closely by South Korea-based LG Electronics and Quanta Storage. South Korea-based Samsung Electronics and Japan-based TEAC are third-tier players.
The company’s new plant, located in the Shanghai Songjiang Industrial Zone, will begin production next March, and the company is hoping that will narrow its gap with the first-tier slim-type optical drive makers, allowing it to ship products with a higher profit margin.
The company expects to ship three million slim-type drives this year.
Company president Chien Jen-jie said that combo drives as a proportion of its total shipments doubled in the third quarter from the second quarter. They occupied nearly 60% of its total slim-type drive shipments in the third quarter. In October alone, the company shipped 200,000 combo drives, Chien said.
As the proportion continues to grow, Chien expects the company will capture a 20% share of the global combo drive market this year, which has an estimated scale of 12 million units, and a 25% share next year in a market of 24 million units.
He said the company’s market share will increase next year because of the gradually stabilizing price and the retreat of several leading Japanese makers. In addition, new players will lag behind for six months and will not be able to launch products immediately, Chien added.
Chien said the company has advantages in key components over other Taiwanese companies. Its pick-up heads (PUHs) are supplied by Sharp.
In slim-type optical drive shipments, Japan-based Matsushita Kotobuki Electronics Industries (MKE) and Toshiba are first-tier players, shipping 250,000 units per months, followed closely by South Korea-based LG Electronics and Quanta Storage. South Korea-based Samsung Electronics and Japan-based TEAC are third-tier players.
The company’s new plant, located in the Shanghai Songjiang Industrial Zone, will begin production next March, and the company is hoping that will narrow its gap with the first-tier slim-type optical drive makers, allowing it to ship products with a higher profit margin.
The company expects to ship three million slim-type drives this year.
