May 7, 2001

Taiwan is expected to take the lead in the development of high density DVD technology, which will result in Taiwan's industry becoming more self sufficient and less dependent on imports of related components, which in turn leads to more competitive prices of finished products.

Taiwan has successfully developed DVD multifunction pickup heads, chip sets, spindle motors, multiplayer discs, multi-beam drives, and mechanical and loading mechanisms for optical pickup heads, giving local DVD makers independence from imports of such key components, said Yung S. Liu, general director of the Opto-Electronics & Systems Laboratories (OESL) of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) during a preview of the Taipei International DVD & Optoelectronics Show which runs this week in Taipei.

The availability of these key components will enable Taiwan to become a major supplier of DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, and DVD video players. The OESL developed six different types of DVD-ROM pickup heads in 1997 and 1998, and transferred the technical know-how to local manufacturers. In 1999 the OESL made an important technical breakthrough after introducing its 4.7 GB DVD-RAM/DVD-RW pickup heads. That breakthrough catapulted the OESL to equal footing with Japanese DVD head makers such as Matsushita, Pioneer, and Hitachi in terms of technical sophistication. The OESL recently introduced its newest DVD multi-optical pickup head, which is compatible with the specifications of DVD-RAM/RW/R and DVD/CD, and is the highest level pickup head technology to be developed. The success in the development of these DVD pickup heads enables Taiwan's DVD makers to procure a full range of high-end pickup heads locally, according to Ju Jau-Jiu, deputy director of the Information Storage Division of the OESL, who served as the project leader.

The new DVD Multi pickup head has a storage capacity of 4.7 gigabytes (GB). The new pickup head is compatible with DVD-ROM, DVD-Audio, DVD-Video, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW specifications. In the past Taiwan relied heavily on imports of key optical components to make CD-ROM and CD-R products. With the technical know-how accumulated over the past few years, Taiwan has already achieved the leading position in the design of DVD pickup heads and related key components, said Yung S. Liu.

In addition, his laboratory is now drafting the specifications of advanced optoelectronic products such as HD DVD ( High Definition Versatile Video Discs so that Taiwan can obtain its own intellectual property and become an exporter of such intellectual property, Liu said.

The total production value of Taiwan's optoelectronics industry this year is expected to reach the equivalent of US$13.8 billion with an annual growth of 31% according to statistics of the China External Trade Development Council, which sponsors the show together the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association (TEEMA and OESL of ITRI).

Taiwan's production of optical storage devices hit 142 billion Taiwan Dollars last year, or 41% of the total production of the optoelectronics industry. These devices include CD-R, CD-ROM, CD-RW, and DVD players.

Taiwan has become the world leader in the production of CD-R with a world market share of 80% and of CD-ROM drives with 48%.

Since 1995, the optoelectronics industry has averaged annual growth rates of 20% to 30%.

Other significant lines of the industry are display products, including large size TFT-LCD, TN and STN display panels. Especially the growth potential for small size displays is promising of increasing demand for handheld information appliances and data communication devices.