Matsushita's Kozuka stressed that Matsushita has already established a volume production system at its BD Replication Task Force (BDRT) at PDMC (Panasonic Disc Manufacturing Corp. of America) in Torrance, Calif. Matsushita now lacks a disc replication business in the U.S., so is considering turning the replication line into a commercial line.

"By the Christmas season, dual-layered discs will be on market," Kozuka said. Matsushita is offering the disc production technology to other replicators through its affiliate company Origin Electric.

Sony also plans to begin producing dual layered discs at its Shizuoka plant.

The BD group claims the 50 Gbyte capacity disc realized by the dual-layered structure is an advantage over competing HD DVD, but the difficulty of producing the discs has been regarded as a big hurdle.

"By the Christmas season, dual-layered discs will be on market," Kozuka said.

Sony Delays Blu-ray Players Until October

Sony now plans to release a Blu-ray high-definition DVD player in the U.S. in October and a combination recorder-player in Japan later in the year, the company announced in Tokyo today (Tuesday). The delay will give Toshiba's rival HD-DVD player a six-month headstart over Sony. Samsung released a Blu-ray player in the U.S. in June, but few have turned up on retailers' shelves. Kiyoshi Nishitani, the Sony executive who oversees Sony's Blu-ray business, declined to state how much Sony's player will cost. The battle between Sony and Toshiba's incompatible formats is likely to keep sales for both down, analysts said. "DVD sales will go down this year because consumers know about high definition but they don't know which format to buy," Netflix Chairman Reed Hastings told today's Los Angeles Times. "The problem with picking sides is that creates consumer anxiety, and so they'll just stop buying, period, or slow down their buying."

"As more manufacturers prepare to jump in to the battle this holiday season they may not be able to because of their shared reliance on blue lasers. Only a few companies worldwide produce them and none have been able to get very good yields. Even Sony, who produces blue lasers for themselves and others, has predicted a shortage as they seek to roll out the Playstation 3 and BDP-S1 and according to this article, have suspended shipments to others. For manufacturers who have to rely on someone else for a supply, this could mean a delay until 2007 before many players and drives are launched."

"DVD sales will go down this year because consumers know about high definition but they don't know which format to buy," Netflix Chairman Reed Hastings told today's Los Angeles Times. "The problem with picking sides is that creates consumer anxiety, and so they'll just stop buying, period, or slow down their buying."