Although Lite-On IT has been enjoying increased sales of its slim-type DVD burners, the
company is worried it may soon face a shortage of prisms, a key component for making the
burners, according to the company?s Optical Disc Drive Business general manager Michael
Gong.
Lite-On IT imports the prism from Japan.
With slim-type DVD burners required to be as light and thin as possible, prism makers
face a number of manufacturing barriers, and their yield rates are not high, Gong quoted
the company?s Japanese suppliers as saying. The yield rates are not expected to improve
until early next year, Gong added.
Slim-type DVD burners are more profitable than Lite-On IT?s other product lines, so an
insufficient supply of prisms will make it difficult for the company to improve its gross
margins this quarter, Gong indicated.