Sharp Starts Making Blue Laser Diodes

Knowing a market opportunity when it sees one, electronics maker Sharp has started commercial production of blue laser diodes to feed the next-gen DVD frenzy.

Electronics maker Sharp has announced it has launched commercial production of blue laser diodes, cranking out 150,000 units a month from a plant in western Japan. The blue laser diodes are at the heart of both Blu-ray and HD DVD next-generation DVD players; the components’ lack of commercial availability was one of the factors hampering Sony’s launch of its PlayStation 3 gaming console in Japan and the U.S. last month—and one of the reasons the console won’t be officially debuting in Europe until March 2007.

Sharp said it plans to increase production of the diodes to 500,000 units a month by the end of 2007, but declined to speculate on its sales targets. However, the Japanese business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun exteimated the company forecasts annual sales of ¥15 billion (about $125 million) during its initial commercial production.

Currently, most blue-laser diodes are manufactured by Sony and Nichia Corporation; expanding the commercial availability of the key component for next-gen DVD players and recorders will likely lead not only to a greater number of products incorporating the technology, but overall price drops as production and competition ramp up.