My last attempt at predicting royalties from Ricoh was incorrect. The annual market for CD-RW media is about 30 million and growing. Ricoh's market share is about 30% or 10 million disks. The wholesale price is anyones guess, anywhere from 2$ to 6$. We should see royalties from Ricoh in the second quarter based on 5 million disks. The market for CD-R disks are almost 1 billion units. As more multi-read audio players are sold and prices of cd-rw disks continue to fall, things will change. I was told we would hear something relating to CD technology and ECD in a couple of weeks, but I have been told things before.
Ricoh to Show CD-R/RW/DVD-ROM Combo Drive at Comdex; Retail Package ShippingAnnouncement to Follow Soon
TUSTIN, Calif., Nov. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Ricoh Corporation's Disc Media and Systems Center (DMS-C) division announced its new four-in-one, CD-R/RW/DVD-ROM combo drive will be demonstrated at Comdex in Booth L5935.
Ricoh DMS-C, which made the technology announcement several weeks ago, decided to speed up production on the new units based on early indications of strong business and consumer interest, according to Takayuki Kuroshima, Marketing/Business Development Manager for Ricoh DMS-C.
The CD-R/RW/DVD-ROM combination will allow users to read DVD-ROM and CD-ROM, write to CD-R and rewrite to CD-RW media. Ricoh's MP9060A drive will have a 6X CD-Recording speed, 4X CD-Rewriting, 24X CD-ROM reading and a 4X DVD-ROM reading speed.
Ricoh DMS-C plans to bundle the MP9060A drive with Adaptec's Easy CD Creator, a CD-R/RW pre-mastering software; DirectCD, CD-R/RW packet writing software; and SOFTWARE CINEMASTER, DVD playback software. Initial pricing for the MediaMaster series retail bundle is expected to be less than $400.
The division's plans for future product sets are to increase drive speeds and add rewritable DVD capabilities, with emphasis on the compatibility with DVD-ROM technology.
Ricoh is a member of the Optical Storage Technology Association, and contributes on the discussion of physical and logical compatibility of optical discs.
Ricoh, the first manufacturer to deliver CD-rewritable drives and media, has used its position as both a media manufacturer and drive manufacturer to promote adoption of uniform standards within industry organizations.
The new products will further Ricoh's concept of the MultiMedia Printer. "Desktop and mobile computing data storage products of the future will have even greater functionality than we have today. Both office and home users will prefer them, because it is less costly and cumbersome than attaching multiple, single-function devices such as a high-capacity floppy disk device for backup, a CD-ROM and a DVD-ROM," said Tadatoshi Sakamaki, a director of Ricoh Company, LTD, and general manager of the Ricoh Disc Media and Systems division, Japan. "We project that CD-R/RW/DVD-ROM combination drives will become standard offerings by major computer builders and manufacturers like Compaq, Dell and Gateway by 2001." |
