Mitsubishi outsourcing all disc production?

[vkmestari]

If this is true, probably no more reliable DL discs either?

Quote:

Mitsubishi Chemical will stop production of Blu-ray Discs and DVDs, according to a report in Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun.

According to the paper, the move comes as the company sees declining profitability due to competition with low-priced BDs and DVDs manufactured outside Japan. Blu-ray sales are not compensating for the declining DVD market.

The maker of the Verbatim-branded media outsource disc production to Taiwanese and Indian makers, according to the report. This will lead to Taiyo Yuden as the sole Japanese manufacturer of DVDs.

According to the Japan Recording-Media Industries Association, says the report, global demand for DVDs, which peaked in fiscal 2007 at about 6 billion units, and has steadily declined since then. Sales of DVDs are forecast to drop to 3.7 billion units in fiscal 2013. In the meantime, the retail price for DVDs virtually halved between 2006 and 2011. Blu-ray sales have not made up for the decline, says Asahi Shimbun.

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News...x?NewsId=32239

[vkmestari]

A quick update...

Quote:

Responding to earlier reports, Mitsubishi Kagaku Media (MKM) reaffirmed the company's commitment in the production of high-quality DVD and Blu-ray disc media.

Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun on Monday reported that Mitsubishi Chemical - a parent company of a MKM - would stop production of Blu-ray Discs and DVDs and would seek to increase its profitability by outsourcing production in Taiwan and Indian disc makers.

Mitsubishi Kagaku Media (MKM) told CDRinfo that the paper interviewed a top management in Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. (MCC) and not MKM, and that the executive talked about the direction of the optical disc business production in general and not MCC's global business prospect.

"It is a common tide in this optical disc industry that CD, DVD even BD single layer disc are not profitable for manufacturing in Japan. All players in Japan are purchasing those discs from outsource such as Taiwanese and Indians," said Mr. Chiba Zenjirou, tech manager for MKM. He described the paper's report as a "conjecture" and untrue.

"We still keep producing our own products (discs) in house. But target market of our own products move from consumer to Business to Business (B2B) market," he added.

MKM plans to unveil its plans that will drive the company through a new phase at the Cebit Show in Germany.

MKM is also planning to release its first BDRTL (BD-R triple layer) discs soon, after some delays from the company's original plan. Currently, only TDK is offering BDRXL discs.

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News...x?NewsId=32245

[lordsmurf]

Hmmm....

This quote -- "according to a report in Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun" -- doesn't appear to come from an authoritative sources from within Mitsubishi. CDRInfo.com seems to have jumped the gun on the assessment that MKM was halting production on blank recordable Blu-ray and DVD media. Not really good reporting on their part.

And this is not new: "not profitable for manufacturing in Japan" -- that's been known for at least a half decade now. That's why production was being outsourced, using various outsourcing methods, as far back as 7-8 years ago. MKM uses an outsource model that offloads their in-house production to other facilities (i.e., MKM at MBI, MKM at FTI, MKM at CMC, etc), aside from their Singapore location.

This quote -- "target market of our own products move from consumer to Business to Business (B2B) market" -- explains away the Life Series and Value Series discs. You can still buy MKM-made Verbatim branded media from media specialty stores (Supermediastore, Meritline, etc) and Amazon stores (Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.fr, etc)

So CDRInfo just raised a false alarm. Nothing has changed in a while now. The status quo appears safe for the time being.