Taiwan-based optical disc makers are expected to benefit from Hitachi Maxell's decision to place more ODM orders, Digitimes.com reports from Taiwan. Hitachi Maxell recently announced that the company plans to phase out production of DVD+R/-R discs at its Tsukuba, Japan plant starting from the first quarter of 2007. The Tsukuba plant will then focus on Blu-ray HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc (BD) production and the company will adopt an ODM business model for its CD-R and DVD+R/-R products.

The annual sales volume from Hitachi Maxell's own-brand DVD+R/-R and CD-R discs currently total about 400-500 million and 800-1,000 million units, respectively, while global demand for DVD+R-R discs is expected to reach 5-6 billion units while CR-R demand will amount to 9-10 billion units in 2006.

In the past, Hitachi Maxell placed ODM orders in small volumes with Taiwan makers such as Ritek, CMC Magnetics and Lead Data.

Ritek is considered the front runner to receive more ODM orders from the Japan-based company as Ritek focuses on the Europe market and has already joined Veeza.