MET Technology,, on June 9 announced that it had become the first Taiwan company to successfully develop pick-up heads (PUHs) for DVD burners. The company plans to begin volume production in October, initially targeting consumer electronics (CE) and then IT products. The new PUHs are for use in reading from CD and 4x DVD drives, and writing to 4x DVD+R/-R, 4x DVD+RW and 2x DVD-RW drives.

MET’s PUH R&D team consists of about 20 members, most with experience working in Japanese companies Matsushita and Audiotech, Chu indicated. MET is now developing DVD PUHs for use with double-layer and blue laser drives, Chu added.

The production of DVD burner PUHs will be outsourced to Koumi, a Chinese manufacturer. MET holds a 15% stake in the company through an investment of 50 million Japanese yen, MET chairman Wei Wen-ping said. MET expects to ship 100,000 PUHs this year and four million next year.

In addition, MET will start volume production of NSS (new solution set) components for use in 16x DVD burners next month, Chu indicated.