We all know that burning is a lot of fun, and more and more people seem to understand this. According to the Japan Recording Media Industries Association will the blank CD-R disc demand grow to 5.6 billion units in 2003 and will it remain the most popular storage medium for several years.
On the other hand, some market observers contend that the CD-R market is nearing maturity and new applications with large demand for CD-R discs have not emerged. The rising popularity of new storage systems like DVD-R/RW and DVD/RAM drives this year, moreover, will slow CD-R disc demand. |
As for CD-R manufacturing, the supply surpluses last year were attributed to Taiwanese and Hong Kong manufacturers' intensive equipment upgrading, and an inventory of more than one billion units prompted a substantial slump in prices. Taiwanese manufacturers produced 400 million CD-R discs per month last year, attaining a 70% capacity utilization rate. However, they will adjust their production this year to re-balance supply and demand.
The association predicts that Japan will account for 13% of global CD-R manufacturing in 2001, close to the proportion in 2000. If overseas Japanese ODMs (original design manufacturers) are taken into consideration, the proportion will reach 39%.
Source: Digitimes.com
