Ricoh’s DVD+RW technology has been picked up by Taiwan’s Lite-On IT, Behavior Tech Computer (BTC), Acer and AOpen, and related products will be released as soon as the first quarter of 2002. Lite-On IT said it is conducting in-house R&D for new DVD-RW products. Apart from pick-up heads, the company plans to purchase all needed components from Taiwan concerns. Acer will cooperate with Philips to develop DVD+RW products, which should be out some time after 2002. AOpen has maintained tight business relations with Ricoh, so it is leading the pack in DVD+RW development – volume production will be initiated as early as the first quarter of 2002. MET Technology, Ricoh’s Taiwan distributor, said the situation between DVD-RW and DVD+RW is much like the competition between VHS and Beta standards – no one is for certain which one will come out with the greater market share. Ricoh is currently producing DVD+RW drives (for OEM orders) at its factory in Dongguan, Guangdong Province. The company has received orders from Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Dell. In the future it plans to offer DVD+RW kits and key components.