Two Taiwan-based optical disc makers plan to rather dramatically increase output of blank Blu-ray discs (BDs) in the second half of the year. Ritek and CMC Magnetics are already among the largest BD makers and further expansion of capacities will allow the companies to strengthen their positions.

Ritek intends to increase production of blank Blu-ray discs from one million per month to two million per month in Q3 2009, whereas CMC Magnetics will add two BD production lines to existing one line on the second half of 2009, reports Chinese-language Economic Daily News paper (which article was partly translated by DigiTimes web-site). As a result, Ritek will increase Blu-ray blank media manufacturing by 100%, whereas CMC will boost the blank BD output by 200%.

Ritek increases its manufacturing capacities in order to meet increased orders for BD discs mainly from Fujifilm and Maxell. With the ability to produce two million Blu-ray discs a month, Ritek is projected to become the global No. 2 BD maker next only to Sony Corp., the main baker of Blu-ray technology.

CMC ships the majority of its BD output to Japan-based Mitsubishi Kagaku Media (MKM), a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical, according to the report.

The expansion of manufacturing capacities seems to be a result of gradual increase of Blu-ray disc technology popularity. Considering the fact that a lot of consumers in Japan record high-definition TV-shows using optical disc recorders, the ongoing switch from DVD recorders to Blu-ray recorders is driving the demand towards BD media.

Tags: Blu-ray, CMC, Ritek