Volume production of 16x DVD+RW burners for Japanese optical drive manufacturers and their Taiwanese competitors may be behind schedule due to a tight supply of laser diodes.
Most Japanese makers originally planned to begin volume production of 16x DVD+RW burners in the middle of next quarter, while BenQ, Lite-On IT and Accesstek planned to begin in July, according to the Taiwanese makers.
However, the supply of LDs used for 16x reading/writing is not currently adequate, as average yield rates are still below 30%. In addition, the technical adjustments needed to match 16x DVD+RW burners with 16x DVD+R discs will not occur until early August, as Japanese makers including Mitsubishi Chemical and Taiyo Yuden plan to begin production of the 16x discs no earlier than the end of July.
Read more at DigiTimes.
