DVD-Recordables is too big of a market to miss.....................
varbusiness.com
Rewritable DVD Format War Need Not Handcuff VARs
By Jan Stafford, Senior Editor/Hardware
It looks like the battle over which rewritable DVD format-DVD-RAM or DVD+RW-will become the standard will not be settled any time soon.
The showdown is scheduled for the spring of 1999. That's when proponents of the DVD+RW format say they will deliver their first generation products.
DVD+RW backers claim that the new technology offers higher capacities and better error correction and compatibility with CD drives than the DVD-RAM products already on the market.
Two years of bickering has delayed the advancement of rewritable DVD and caused confusion in the marketplace. "So far, there's more hype than reality about rewritable DVD," says Marvin Groberman, president of MARCAN Inc., a storage systems VAR in Bellevue, Wash. "Two years ago, DVD was the next great thing. At this year's Comdex, I saw very few products."
Despite the slow start, however, experts still see a bright future for Rewritable DVD drives. Sales should jump from 140,000 in 1998 to 400,000 units in 1999 and 1.2 million in 2000, reports Freeman Associates of Santa Barbara, Calif. In 2002, market researcher Dataquest Inc., San Jose, expects rewritable DVD sales to skyrocket, hitting 6 million.
Freeman Associates isn't forecasting past 2000. "The existence of two formats may confuse the buyer," says Freeman analyst Bob Abraham.
That doesn't mean that VARs should put off selling rewritable DVD. "The opportunity is too great to wait," says Abraham. Rewritable DVD gains in storage capacity over CDs will feed capacity-hungry removable storage applications, such as computer-aided engineering, graphic design, pre-press, document imaging, and data warehousing.
DVD-RAM is the only game in town right now. Several vendors-including Hitachi America, Panasonic Communication & Systems Company, and Toshiba America-introduced drives in mid-1998. Some OEMs, such as Cygnet Storage Solutions and NSM Jukebox Inc., aren't waiting for DVD+RW. They've announced DVD-RAM-based library and jukebox products already. "As it stands today, DVD-RAM is an accepted standard by both the DVD Forum and the European Standards Committee, ECMA," says David Ooley, NSM president. "DVD+RW is viewed as 'vaporware'...nothing but a specification, not a standard."
Today's DVD-RAM drives offer 2.6-GB storage capacity on a single-sided disc and double-sided disc capacity on 5.2 GB. In a cost-per-megabyte comparison, DVD-RAM comes in at one cent, CD-RW at three cents and Omega's ZIP at 17 cents.
When they arrive, DVD+RW drives will offer 3GB on a single side and no double-sided option in the first generation. They'll be produced by the six members of the DVD+RW Compatibility Alliance: Hewlett-Packard Co., MCC/Verbatim, Philips Electronics N.V., Ricoh Company Ltd., Sony Corp. and Yamaha Corp.
Both factions are strong, technically competent, and have the resources to bring products to market. "It's a shame, because DVD-RAM and DVD+RW are very similar formats," says Ray Freeman, president and storage market analyst of Freeman Associates. "Both formats will probably be around for some time, creating more confusion."
The good news for VARs that are hesitant over backing one technology over the other is that Optical Storage Technology Association plans to offer DVD-ROM MultiRead specifications that will enable DVD-ROM drives to read both DVD-RAM and DVD+RW media. "The risk for VARs in choosing one or the other is small," says Abraham.
VARs say they'll ignore the hype. "We'll choose products on the basis of customer requirements," says Groberman, who sells Cygnet DVD-RAM products now. The problems will come with customers who have read the hype about the two formats. The primary fallout for VARs will be "having to answer more questions than we would have if there'd been one format," he says.
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