Somehow I missed this earlier but Lite-On has apparently announced support for the HD DVD format. According to their press release, they are developing a half-height HD DVD drive, with plans for commercialization in March 2007.
Lite-On IT, Taiwan's No.1 manufacturer of optical disk drives (ODD), today announced the company would support the HD DVD format, the next-generation DVD standard for the high-definition era, and that it has started development of a half-height HD DVD drive, aiming for commercialization in March 2007. The participation of Lite-On IT, in the fast growing ranks of HD DVD supporters adds to the momentum propelling the market growth and success of HD DVD by expanding the number of ODD suppliers working to sustain the HD DVD industry. HD DVD products are expected to see a rapid boost in demand during the Christmas and year-end shopping season, and Toshiba Corporation of Japan has already launched an Notebook PC with HD DVD-ROM in selected markets, HD DVD players in the U.S. and Japanese markets, and a hard disk recorder with HD DVD for the Japanese market.
Lite-On IT has undertaken an extensive evaluation of HD DVD technologies, and concluded that HD DVD will be a major driving force in connection with the coming generation of ODD with blue laser pick-up heads, because of its cost advantage and its proven technical reliability, including superior backward compatibility with DVD. By joining the HD DVD market ahead of many other suppliers of ODD drives, Lite-On IT intends to take full advantage of the excellent market opportunities provided by HD DVD and contribute to the sound growth of the next generation DVD industry.
Keep in mind Lite-On is supporting Blu-ray as well with their own line of BD players and PC based drives. If you'd like to read more, Lite-On's entire press release can be found here.
