To cope with falling media prices, some of the industry's
smaller media manufacturers have started using second-grade polycarbonate and self-developed dyes. As a result, batches of discs with
defect rates as high as 50% have started to show up on the Taiwanese market.
In the Taiwan retail market, small brands or
brands without a reputation have recently provided a large volume of DVD+R/-R discs of which purchasers have found as many as 30-50%
failed in performance. Such defect rates are historically very exceptional, according to Taiwan retail channels.
Currently,
DVD+R/-R discs supplied by international brands, including Philips, Sony and TDK, sell at NT$8-12 (US$0.24-0.36) per disc while small or
little-known brands charge only NT$6-7 for a disc, the sources indicated.
These failure rates are quite high, even for low
grade media. Nevertheless, people shouldn't be surprised by the quality. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. If you'd
like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes.
