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Growing Interest in Video Applications, Availability of Combination DVD Drives Cited as Key Factors Driving Demand

``DVD Forum-compliant combination DVD drives that provide both write-once, play-anywhere and rewritable capabilities are available from multiple suppliers for $450 to $850 and are rapidly entering the mainstream consumer market,'' said Koo. ``DVD-R media that plays on nearly every Forum standard player costs less than $5 and rewritable discs range in price from $10-$12. We are delivering on the DVD Forum's commitment to provide consumers with a cost-effective video communications medium for personal and business applications.''

To emphasize the widespread hardware/software support for Forum-standard recordable DVD, Koo encouraged the press to view the more than 50 standards-compliant products that were on display. He noted that these were just some of the hundreds of applications for recordable DVD products such as DVD recorders, DVD drives and DVD cameras that are in use today.

Applications for industry standard Recordable DVD range from AV entertainment to computer data in markets spanning consumers to businesses. Compliance with the DVD Forum's recordable DVD formats has been a key factor in driving the broad support of the user-proven DVD technology formats which are supported by Hollywood as well as leading computer and software producers.

Following Koo's statements, guest speaker Wolfgang Schlichting presented some of the highlights of IDC's recently completed storage market study. Based on these reports, IDC predicts that the growing consumer interest in personal video, combined with the increasing availability of low-cost dual-technology DVD drives will help recordable DVD drives increase from 1.4 million units this year to more than 30 million units in 2005.

IDC's forecast also indicates that while there will only be a slight improvement in PC sales over the next two quarters, optical storage -- and more specifically combination recordable DVD devices -- will fuel the growth of aftermarket sales and move consumers to higher-performance video-enabled systems. Schlichting credits video applications such as recording and editing home video, archiving broadcast TV content and downloading video content from the Internet for driving consumer interest in recordable DVD devices.

``Although data storage for system and personal file backup and PC restore will be an important after-purchase application, it will not be the major factor in the purchasing decision,'' he noted. ``As prices for recordable DVD media and combination recordable DVD drives continue to drop, DVD media will increasingly be used for the interchange of large data and image files.''

The RDVDC is a coalition of nearly 75 leading DVD technology developers and manufacturers who are working to expand the understanding of recordable DVD technologies (DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW) that comply with the recordable DVD formats established by the DVD Forum.

The DVD Forum is an industry association whose 230+ members include all major DVD manufacturers as well as major DVD software developers and DVD media producers around the world. For more information, visit www.dvdforum.org

The Recordable DVD Council (RDVDC) is dedicated to advancing DVD Forum-standard recordable DVD technologies and products worldwide. It provides education, fosters the exchange of information and stimulates new applications. For more information on the RDVDC, contact Tony Jasionowski, U.S. Program Coordinator, at 201/348-7777 or jasionowskit@rdvdc.org. Visit the Council's website at http://www.rdvdc.org/english.

For more information on the IDC report -- Optical/Removable Storage Market and Forecast and Analysis, 2001-2005 -- contact Cheryl Toffel, 800/343-4952, extension 2489 or ctoffell@idc.com. For more information on IDC's research visit http://www.idc.com

Contact:

     Andy Marken, 408/986-0100
     andy@markencom.com