TDK Corp., a maker of recordable media, said it had begun shipments of recordable Blu-ray optical discs to the market. While the company claims that it is the first to deliver recordable and rewritable Blu-ray discs, the actual availability of appropriate burners is very low and it will be at least several quarters till the demand towards the Blu-ray recordable media begins to pick up.

“TDK is pleased to be the first to market with bare Blu-ray Disc media, which can be counted among the most significant product introductions in the company’s distinguished 70 year history,” noted Bruce Youmans, TDK vice president of marketing.

Like Panasonic, who was the first to announce intentions to ship blank Blu-ray media to the U.S. this spring, TDK markets 25GB BD-R (recordable) and 25GB BD-RE (rewritable) media as well as 50GB BD-R (recordable) and 50GB BD-RE (rewritable) discs that are to ship later during the year. Pricing of the parts is also similar to that of Panasonic: $19.99 for a 25GB BD-R, $24.99 for a 25GB BD-RE, $47.99 for a 50GB BD-R and $59.99 for a 50GB BD-RE.

The only Blu-ray disc burner for PCs available on the market right now is Pioneer’s BRD-101A that retails for $995 and is intender mostly for professionals. In the second half of 2006 Philips is expected to release its SPD7000, which yet has undisclosed price tag. Given that usual DVD burners cost about $100 or less and considering that the tenfold price slash is going to take some time, several quarters, or even years are going to pass before the demand for recordable Blu-ray discs will become significant.

TDK Blu-ray discs are manufactured at the company’s Chikumagawa Techno Factory in Japan and utilize the latest technologies that the company developed for its media. The base of the recordable Blu-ray media is inorganic material that is impervious to light and composed of copper and silicon. For TDK’s rewritable BD-RE BD media, a specially designed high-sensitivity phase change recording material is utilized. The material is so stable that the disc shows virtually no performance degradation even after it has been overwritten 10 000 times, according to TDK.

Based on simulated acceleration tests, TDK’s archival life expectancy rating for Blu-ray Disc media is more than 50 years, the company said.