Sanyo has reduced its prices of pick-up heads (PUHs) used in DVD players from US$4.2-4.3 last quarter to US$3.8, currently, in the Taiwan market, according to Taiwan-based makers of DVD players. Acute Applied Technologies (Aatek), the largest Taiwan-based producer of PUHs used in DVD players and optical disc drives, is expected to be under competitive pressure from Sanyo. In order to maintain its Taiwan market domination, Aatek has made a slight downward adjustment to its quotation for DVD player PUHs to US$3.5, to maintain a price gap with Sanyo, the makers indicated.

Besides being an attempt to increase market share in Taiwan, Sanyo?s price cut reflects a significant reduction in the cost of DVD player PUHs, following the company?s adoption of newly developed lenses, the makers pointed out.

Sanyo?s roadmap shows that its prices of DVD-player PUHs will drop to US$3.5, in the second half of this year, falling to US$3.2 by the end of 2005, the makers said.