Taiwanese DigiTimes reports that Lite-On IT has received an OEM order for slim combo drives used in notebooks from Dell, with deliveries to start in the first quarter of 2004.

Lite-On IT was ready to launch volume production of slim drives in the fourth quarter of 2002 but had to delay for one to two quarters because of the time taken by international PC vendors to certify its products. In the third quarter of this year, the company had to lower its 2003 shipment goal of such drive models from four million units to one million units because of the delay.

In recent months, Lite-On IT has succeeded in securing OEM orders for notebook-use slim combo drives from Hewlett-Packard (HP), Sony, Fujitsu Siemens and Acer.

According to other Taiwanese producers of optical disc drives, Lite-On IT recently received a Dell order for notebook-use slim combo drives with a volume of one million units for next year and shipments to begin next quarter. However, Lite-On IT refused to comment on the report, citing client confidentiality.

In addition to slim combo drives, Lite-On IT started volume production of slim 4x DVD+RW burners in November and will begin producing DVD Dual burners in the first quarter of 2004 with HP and Dell being the main target clients. The company aims to sell five million to six million slim drives next year.