Shortage in the Blue diodes may slow down the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray war

Manufacturers of blue laser diodes are unable to improve yield rates and this may result in slowing down the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray war because of a lack of diodes.

Many vendors already announced BD or HD-DVD drives but only Pioneer and Plextor are currently able to maintain actual shipments. Toshiba should be able to join them with volume shipments planned to kick off in September.

Only Nichia, Sharp and Sanyo are shipping the diodes. Nichia holds 80% of the global blue laser diode supply and had reported that its yield rate for blue laser diodes had reached 30%. However, the actual output still falls behind the demand.

According to Michael Gong of Lite-On IT's optical disc drive business unit, demand visibility for BD and HD-DVD drives remains impressive, but availability of new models may be postponed due to the shortage of blue laser diodes. By the first quarter of next year, the tight supply is expected to ease according to Gong.

Source: www.digitimes.com