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PLEXTOR REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO OPTICAL DISC DRIVE BUSINESS

New Product Development and Retail Sales to Continue

FREMONT, Calif. - January 23, 2007 - Plextor® LLC, a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media equipment, today reaffirmed its commitment to the optical disc drive business in North and South America. On January 19, 2007, Shinano Kenshi Co., Ltd., the parent company of Plextor, announced plans to perform a corporate reorganization to streamline Plextor's optical drive business to enhance operating efficiencies.

"This announcement by Shinano Kenshi will have no material affect on the operations of Plextor LLC, as we already completed a corporate reorganization in North and South America last year. Our business will continue as usual," said Toru Nakazawa, President of Plextor LLC, USA. "It is unfortunate that an incorrect translation of a Japanese article, which contained some errors, has led to the rumor that Plextor is somehow quitting the optical disc drive business. This is completely false. In fact, Plextor plans to continue to lead the market with innovative, exciting products that solve real world problems for our consumer and business customers. We deeply appreciate the loyalty of our customers and valued business partners. And we look forward to many years of future success."

About Plextor
Plextor LLC is a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media equipment for professionals, consumers, and enterprises. Headquartered in Silicon Valley since 1990, Plextor has introduced generations of award-winning products, including digital video converters and CD-R/RW, DVD±R/RW, and Blu-ray optical disk drives. Contact Plextor at www.plextor.com.

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Plextor and the Plextor logo are registered trademarks of Shinano Kenshi Kabushiki Kaisha. Other brands and products are trademarks of their respective holder/s.


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Thanks for posting this Ian. It's humorous that they said it was a "mistranslation". The person that informed me of the news is Japanese, so I'm sure he understood the article correctly. It could have been that the Japanese newspaper reported it incorrectly, but it wasn't a mistranslation.

Also, don't forget that Plextor Japan's direct online shop sold out of most of their ODD's after this news hit.

Wesociety wrote: It could have been that the Japanese newspaper reported it incorrectly, but it wasn't a mistranslation.

I'm betting that's what it is. All of the other reports I've read have been VERY similar (in some cases word for word) to the original one.

I've asked Plextor for a bit more info. Mistranslation or not, they're still scaling back their business. I can't imagine that they're going to be able to continue to deliver the innovative drives we've come to expect from them.

Good marketing strategy to sell their drives anyway. Now BenQ will come forward with the same announcement. ...BenQ, hello, BenQ, anyone there?;)

It sounds like we'll be seeing rebadged Lite-On's in the near future..

http://www.digitimes.com/systems/a20070124PD213.html

Lite-On IT has also landed PC-use DVD burner orders from Japan-based Plextor, following Plextor's plan to suspend its own PC-use DVD drive business, according to industry sources. The speculation about Lite-On IT spurred the company's share price to reach NT$29.45 on January 24, up NT$1.9 from the January 23 closing price. Some industry watchers, however, said the landed ordered amounts should be limited.

.....perhaps one day all burners will be Lite-Ons..... and there will be no need to test or review drives any more.

2Dogs wrote:.....perhaps one day all burners will be Lite-Ons..... and there will be no need to test or review drives any more.

Well, Samsung drives are still going pretty strong. I think we'll end up with Pioneer, Samsung, and LiteON in the end.

I would say ending up with:
Foxconn, Samsung, LG, Lite On and maybe some chinese compannies for the next years.