O.T.
Randy
CD-R Demand To Overtake Floppy Disks In 2000
Thursday, December 2, 1999
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Global demand for recordable CDs (CD-Rs) will likely expand to 3 billion units in 2000, outstripping the floppy disk market for the first time, the Japan Recording-Media Industries Association said Thursday.
Riding the Internet wave, demand for CD-Rs is especially growing to store downloaded images and other content requiring large data storage capacity.
The association estimates world demand for CD-Rs will surge 180% year on year to 1.77 billion units in 1999, with the figure expected to rise 70% in 2000 to 2.99 billion.
Demand for floppy disks is forecast to slide 4% to 1.96 billion units this year, and mark a 9% fall to 1.78 billion in 2000.
CD-Rs debuted in 1989, offering at least 450 times the storage capacity of floppy disks. Reduced prices for CD-R drives are among other factors responsible for the demand growth.
Even though domestic output of CD-Rs accounted for almost half the global market this year, Japanese producers, like TDK Corp. (6762) and Taiyo Yuden Co. (6976), now see difficulties in keeping pace with demand. Meanwhile, Taiwanese rivals are pushing production, aiming to supply over half the global demand this year and 60% or more in 2000.
(The Nihon Keizai Shimbun
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