Optical Drives and Accessories

Mainland China and Taiwan are the undisputed leaders in optical-storage-product supply, manufacturing almost half of all optical drives and 80% of all optical discs.

Now, you can narrow the list of suppliers who best meet your needs, and discover which supply markets best match your requirements, even before your next sourcing trip.

Because with this report, you'll get access to in-depth profiles of leading manufacturers, plus a complete overview of the optical drive and accessory industry in mainland China and Taiwan.

This is one-of-a-kind information you can use to find new sourcing opportunities in one of the world's most challenging, competitive supply markets.

What you'll get

In-depth profiles of 26 leading optical drive and accessory producers — based on personal factory visits and interviews with senior managers — that give details on manufacturing capabilities, quality controls, future development plans and more. This information is available nowhere else.

Profile tables of 27 additional suppliers, with emphasis on key sourcing data such as production capacities, pricing forecasts and export ratios

Inside information on key manufacturers that supply such global retailers as Best Buy, Sony, TDK, Maxell, Philips and Wal-Mart

A detailed product comparison table highlighting 210 popular export models with full-color pictures and key technical specifications

How you'll benefit

Get the results of Global Sources' latest supplier survey, forecasting price, product, production and R&D trends for the next 12 months

Learn the different R&D strategies and quality-control efforts undertaken by China's major manufacturers in order to remain globally competitive

Understand how component materials influence final FOB prices and examine the material cost-breakdown of a finished CD-R

Get full company contact details, including phone numbers, e-mail addresses and website URLs

Executive summary

In 2005, almost half of optical drives and 80 percent of optical discs shipped around the globe will originate from a mainland China or Taiwan manufacturer, with the latter accounting for the lion's share.

Taiwan's 10 optical drive makers and 15 disc suppliers are expected to ship 100.27 million drives and 11 billion discs worldwide in 2005, equivalent to 42 percent and 70 percent, respectively, of total global shipments. Imation, TDK, Maxell, Philips, Mitsubishi, Sony, Pioneer, Wal-Mart, Auchan and BestBuy are some of the major brands and resellers that source optical storage products from Taiwan.

The mainland's growing base of 30 optical disc suppliers is export-oriented and has the potential to challenge Taiwan's hegemony in the next few years. Capable of offering lower FOB quotes than Taiwan disc suppliers, mainland disc makers present an alternative sourcing option for disc buyers. Already, some makers perform OEM business for Teac, LG and Sony.

These are a few of the main findings of this report, which is based on a survey of 53 optical drive and disc manufacturers in mainland China and Taiwan.

Global Sources also visited the factories of 26 suppliers to capture in-depth profiles of their manufacturing and export capabilities.

Geographic distribution
Optical drive and disc makers are heavily concentrated in Taipei and Guangdong province. Taiwan's tier-one suppliers operate overseas factories in mainland China and other countries, while second-tier suppliers typically operate one or two Taiwan-based factories.

The Guangdong cities of Shantou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen host most of mainland China's suppliers. Other makers are clustered in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Jilin, Tianjin, Fujian and Sichuan.

Production capability
Tier-one optical drive suppliers in Taiwan can produce more than 1 million drives per month, while second-tier makers can supply 100,000 to 900,000 units monthly.

Few mainland China optical drive suppliers have in-house manufacturing capability.

Taiwan's tier-one disc suppliers can produce more than 100 million discs monthly. Second-tier makers have an average monthly capacity of 35 million units.

Output and free capacity in 2004
A typical Taiwan optical drive maker produced 1 million units per month, with an average of 46 percent unused capacity. The average mainland China supplier produced 22,000 units per month with 30 percent unused capacity.

Each Taiwan optical disc maker produced an average 56 million discs per month, with an unused capacity of 20 percent. The surveyed mainland China suppliers have an average 9.7 million discs' monthly output, and 16 percent average unused capacity.

Export capability
Fifty-eight percent of optical drives produced in mainland China are shipped overseas, 39 percent of which goes to OEM buyers. Taiwan drive makers export 90 percent of their output, 46 percent of which are delivered to OEM buyers.

Sixty-five percent of mainland China's optical disc output is exported. In contrast, 97 percent of Taiwan's optical disc output is shipped overseas.

Seventy-three percent of mainland China's optical disc shipments go to OEM buyers, compared to 62 percent of Taiwan suppliers, many of whom promote in-house brands.

Industry overview

The global supply of optical storage products is centered in Taiwan and mainland China. In 2005 and 2006, despite a slightly receding market share, Taiwan will continue to be the number one supplier of optical drives and discs. On the other hand, mainland China, though not yet a major player, offers low-cost sourcing alternative to volume export buyers, especially for optical discs.

The two supply bases are expected to fortify their market shares as recordable DVD drives and discs dislodge CD-based products as the mainstream optical storage format.

Taiwan: Top global supplier of optical storage products
Taiwan has been the world's biggest supplier of optical drives and discs for several years. A projected 105 million drives were produced by Taiwan manufacturers in 2004, according to the Market Intelligence Center (MIC), with a production value worth US$3.6 billion. The Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK), another market research firm based in Taiwan, estimates that Taiwan shipped 6.8 billion optical discs in 2004, with a total value of US$1.9 billion. The island accounts for majority of the global output of the major optical disc formats: CD-R, 69 percent; CD-RW, 84 percent; DVD-R, 75 percent; CD-ROM, 47 percent; and DVD-RW, 62 percent, according to the IEK.

There are about 10 manufacturers of optical drives and 15 suppliers of optical discs in Taiwan. CD-ROM and CD-RW drives, and CD-R and CD-RW discs remain the bread-and-butter for most manufacturers. Because of thinning profit margins for CD-based products, leading Taiwan suppliers have been shifting focus to DVD rewritable drives and discs.

The tier-one optical drive suppliers led by BenQ and Asustek can produce more than 1 million drives per month. Second-tier makers can produce 100,000 to 900,000 units monthly. Some tier-two manufacturers such as Candy concentrate on niche models, such as external drives and half-height internal drives.

Some of Taiwan's top optical drive manufacturers concentrate on R&D and subcontract production to EMS companies. In general, however, Taiwan's leading producers have multiple factories in Taiwan, mainland China and in other parts of the world.

Taiwan makers expect their monthly output of optical drives to increase by an average 27 percent in 2005. DVD drives account for more than half of suppliers' output, a trend that is expected to intensify in 2005. DVD dual drives, at the top of the line, account for 18 percent of total output.

Samples of supplier profile

Advanced Media Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd
Advanced Media Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd was established in 2003 with a registered capital of US$10 million.

Located in suburban Shanghai, about an hour's drive from downtown Shanghai, the company specializes in the manufacture of optical discs, particularly those utilizing the CD-R format. Majority of the company's output comprises CD-R discs with 52X and higher speeds. It has a monthly production capacity of about 2.8 million CD-R discs.

Advanced Media also produces CD-R discs in irregular or novelty shapes, including business card-shaped discs and other shapes such as stars, hexagons and hearts. It can customize the shapes of its optical discs according to buyers' requirements.

In 2004, Advanced Media's overall sales amounted to US$2.5 million. The company currently exports over 90 percent of its total optical disc output to overseas markets. Its main export destinations are the Middle East, Southeast Asia and European countries such as Spain and Turkey. Europe absorbs about 40 percent of total export volume.

Manufacturing capability
The Global Sources team toured Advanced Media's production facility. As optical disc production requires stringent cleanliness measures, we were required to wear anti-static shoes, coats, trousers and caps before entering the main production area. A trip to the air shower room was also required to clear visitors of dust particles. The factory also has two shower rooms for employees.

The CD-R production process employed by Advanced Media involves injection molding, dye coating, injection, metal sputtering, edge washing, lacquering protection, drying and final inspection.

We first visited the printing area, which spans about 150 square meters and is equipped with a single printing machine from Guann Way Technologies Co. Ltd of Taiwan. Near the printing machine is an inspection table with 10 on-line workers. To ensure product quality, the staff at this inspection table manually inspect each disc, with special attention to its edges and appearance.

Near the printing area is an ink testing room, a Grafmac room and a testing room for film pieces. Each of these rooms measures about 20 square meters.

Our next stop was the primary replication center, which spans about 2,000 square meters. At the primary replication center are three CD-R replication lines with three ST50 PRO injection molding machines, all sourced from Toyo of Japan.

To ensure a consistent, optimum operating temperature for the injection molding machine, Advanced Media utilizes three industrial air-conditioners. The temperature and humidity of the vacuum molding process done by the injection molding machine is maintained at about 27 degrees Celsius.

Sample of product gallery

DVD drives (includes DVD-ROM, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, combo, dual) Company:AOpen Model: DUW1608/ARR Description: DVD dual drive Dimensions(mm): 149x42x188.4

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