BD-ROM to become mainstream of BD in 2008, say Taiwan makers

**admin** · 6 Mar 2008, 12:04 PM

While pick-up heads (PUHs) and chipsets account for 60-70% of the total production cost for optical disc drives in general, BD-ROM PUHs with a laser diode power of 130-150mW are much less expensive than PUHs of 200-300mW for use in BD burners and the yield rate of the former is higher than that of the latter, the sources pointed out. The lower production costs is another reason that BD-ROM is expected to pick up in popularity, the sources analyzed.

http://www.digitimes.com/systems/a20080302PD201.html

Following Sony's offering of its BDU-X10S, its first Blu-ray Disc (BD)-ROM drive, BD-ROM is expected to become the mainstream among all BD formats in 2008, according to leading Taiwan-based makers of optical disc drives.

BD-ROM prices to drop soon? I can already get the Pioneer BD-ROM + DVD writer drive for about $200. I don't think people should pay for a BD burner just yet, since these are still expensive, their media is expensive and I'm sure faster and more reliable drives are on the way. As Doom9 pointed out when linking to the same story, the lower yield rate of BD burner pick-up heads is still cause for the higher prices.