Since manufacturers of blue laser diodes are still unable to improve yield rates, the shortage may result in pushing back the competition between Blu-ray Disc (BD) and HD-DVD optical disc drives in the market to the first quarter of 2007, according to sources at optical disc drive (ODD) manufacturers.
Although several vendors, including Royal Philips Electronics, Hitachi-LG Data Storage (HLDS), Sony, Matsushita Electric, Lite-On IT and BenQ, already announced BD or HD-DVD drives, only Pioneer and Plextor are currently able to maintain actual shipments, according to the sources. Toshiba may soon join them, with volume shipments planned to kick off in September, the sources added.
Utilizing BD drives in its own PS3 game consoles, Sony suspended shipments of blue laser diodes to other customers, the makers indicated, adding that only Nichia, Sharp and Sanyo continue shipping the diodes. Nichia, which currently holds 80% of the global blue laser diode supply, reported that its yield rate for blue laser diodes reached 30%, according to the makers. However, the actual output still falls behind the demand, the makers said.
According to Michael Gong, general manager of Lite-On IT's optical disc drive business unit, demand visibility for BD and HD-DVD drives remains impressive, but availability of new models may be postponed due to the shortage of blue laser diodes. By the first quarter of next year, the tight supply is expected to ease, he added.
