wraggster
August 30th, 2006, 15:47
DigiTimes is reporting that a serious shortage of blue laser diodes is forcing many manufacturers to cut back on production of next-generation drives, which means the expected pre-Holiday flood of HD-DVD and Blu-ray players may not materialize as expected. They're also claiming that Sony, which is one of a handful of companies making the diodes right now, just suspended shipments to other companies so they'll have enough Blu-ray drives for the PlayStation 3. It's not entirely clear how this is going to affect the balance of power in the HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray deathmatch -- each format relies on 405 nm blue-violet laser diodes, so each may be equally affected -- but it looks like the battle royale between the two may have to be postponed until next year.