According to DigiTimes, Lite-On IT and BenQ have secured OEM orders for 4x speed DVD+RW drives from Fujitsu Siemens Computers and Hewlett-Packard (HP), respectively, signaling local producers’ strength in competing for the market currently dominated by Japanese companies such as Pioneer, NEC and Ricoh.

Neither Taiwanese company would confirm the orders.

Lite-On IT’s shipments to Fujitsu Siemens Computers were expected to start this month. Lite-On IT has started volume production of DVD+RW drives, with shipments estimated at 90,000 units this month and around 250,000 next month, according to Michael Gong, general manager of the company’s optical disc drive business unit. With deliveries to many new clients scheduled to begin next quarter, the company is maintaining its full-year target of shipping one million DVD+RW drives.

BenQ’s shipments of 4x speed DVD+RW drives will grow from 40,000-50,000 units this month to over 100,000 units next month and 200,000 units per month next quarter, the company said.

In addition to local companies, Samsung Electronics and Hitachi-LG Data Storage (HLDS) are poised to compete for the international DVD+RW drive market as well. Mainly due to increasing competition among makers in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, the OEM price of 4x DVD+RW drives has dropped to US$95-100 per unit. Japanese manufacturers each ship about 300,000-400,000 recordable DVD drives per month.