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Technology Stocks : C-Cube -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rarebird who wrote (35375)	8/21/1998 5:26:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

DVD-5(single layer, one side only) disks cost $1.80 to $2.25 to produce. This is more than reported earlier. Patents are part of the cost.............................. emediapro.net MAKING "CENTS" OF YOUR FINAL BILL When looking at costs, be sure, once again, to understand what you're getting for your money. Does the estimate include mastering? Test discs? Replication? Packaging? Warehousing? Shipment? The good news is that replication prices have already begun to drop. A DVD-5 currently averages about $1.80 to $2.25 per disc. A DVD-9 should range from $3.50 to $4.50. Although DVD-R discs do exist, they are not cheap, so you should know what testing will cost. It can cost anywhere from $2,000 for a DVD-5 to $6,000 for a DVD-9, industry sources say. Also, make sure the replicator's price includes all DVD royalties. Sony and Philips currently collect $0.045 per disc; the DVD Forum gathers $0.075 per disc; and MPEG LA brings in $0.05 per disc. Other companies are still seeking a higher share of the profits. Pricing for premastering is not quite as straightforward. "To customers, a lot about DVD is generically defined," says Stabenau. "What does it really mean to say 'I want to put this on a DVD?'" he asks. For instance, customers must realize the nuances and complexities of a DVD project. He continues, "People must understand that for a project with 1,000 subtitles, for example, each one is a separate file. If something is missing, the program is not going to work right. It is tough to know at the outset all of the nuances of a project. I've had people hang up on me because I couldn't give them an outright price." In other words, the more details you can provide about your project-before you get started-the more likely you are to get an accurate sense of the final price. Packaging is a separate issue. Replicators will pretty much do anything you ask, but jewel box packaging has the advantage of being an almost universally automated process. Automated equipment does exist for the Snapper box and the Amaray box, though few replicators currently have it. Other packages can be automated on jewel box machines, but replicators may not be willing to make those adjustments unless orders are tremendous. To summarize, get a package price breakdown. If something is hand-stuffed, it is going to cost more.