The time for Blu-ray to gain mass penetration is yet to be seen as high royalty fees and equipment costs mean Taiwan disc makers are conservative over their deployment in the next-generation optical disc standard, said CMC Magnetics chairman Robert Wong.

In this article from DigiTimes, CMC Magnetics Chairman, Robert Wong, sheds some light on how Taiwanese optical disc manufacturers are viewing HD production.

Although recent sales of Blu-ray optical drives in North America have been stimulated by cut-throat pricing indicating that the Blu-ray market should deliver substantial business potential, Wong commented that experience should still prompt Taiwan optical disc makers to be conservative over their deployment. The rapid expansion of CD-R and DVD+R/-R disc production in the past, which eventually led to a drastic average selling price (ASP) drop, will likely scare off Taiwan optical disc makers, Wong said.

As Taiwan optical disc makers will only invest in 1-2 lines for Blu-ray disc production during the initial stages, and royalty fees for BD-R (recordable, write once) are still high, the time which Blu-ray disc gains the mainstream role is not expected for several years, Wong estimated.

While seeing fellow industry players proceeding cautiously over next-generation optical disc migration, Wong indicated that CMC is aggressively deploying into the solar energy segment. Highlighting experience learned from sputtering technology that CMC could apply to thin-film solar cell production, Wong again stressed his optimism over solar energy.

Wong updated that production at CMC's thin-film solar cell production subsidiary company, Sun Well Technology, is slated for volume production in the first quarter of 2008 with all construction work at the plant already completed. Sun Well will deploy into both copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film and crystalline solar cells, he said.

From DigiTimes