Media-Tech 2008: Kind of Blu

It’s not like they planned it that way, but Media-Tech’s North American conference, turned out to be the optical disc industry’s de facto first post-war summit. Held March 4-5 at the Mayfair Hotel in Miami’s Coconut Grove, Media-Tech 2008 was the industry's first conclave after the decisive victory of Sony’s Blu-ray over Toshiba’s HD DVD in a two-year format war that had ended only two weeks earlier.

Ostensibly, the conference was focused on business strategies that would help disc replicators and duplicators cope with diminishing demand and margins on physical media, such as duplicating Flash media and optimizing direct-mail marketing. But there was a palpable and collective sigh of relief throughout the relatively small show floor that the shoe had finally dropped in what had been a multi-billion-dollar competition for the next-generation disc format, one that effectively put capex and strategic planning on hold for both disc makers and equipment manufacturers.

Singulus, which has the largest market share in the global optical disc line manufacturing sector, seemed particularly happy. The company had held an open house a week earlier at its factory in Kahl am Main, Germany, to introduce the BD 50, its newest Blu-ray line that can manufacture the 50-GB iteration of the format. Sylvia Hitzel, v.p. of sales & marketing for Singulus, told EMedialive that the company is convinced that 50GB will be the version of choice in the U.S., where quick market traction for the format is critical to success. “The format is already moving in the U.S. and we expect Europe will begin to expand it capacity within the next few weeks,” she said, estimating that current sales of 15 lines in place or on order will increase by over 50% in Q2.

In the wake of a presentation on Blu-ray by Mike Mitchell, EVP and CTO at replicator Sony DADC, in which he outlined the format’s technical and manufacturing vision going forward, the talk turned to how quickly a Blu-ray infrastructure could be achieved and what would drive it. Cedric Collard, marketing manager for Austrian-based measurement/testing/optimization equipment maker Datarius, said quickly ramping up capacity could prove challenging. “It was a long war with a sudden end,” he said. “In the meantime, many of the line manufacturers in this business are gone, including Krauss-Maffei, 4M and Steag.”

In fact, only three companies globally have lines ready for sale – Singulus, Sony’s own lines and China-based Anwell; Sweden’s M2 has a BD 25 line that will be ready to ship by Q4. “But there have been a lot of BD-related product announcements recently, so I believe the technology is ready.”

Bob Freedman, CTO at replicator and post house Crest Digital in Los Angeles, said that getting the manufacturing infrastructure together was the first priority for the format, and that Sony was doing a good job getting information and support to potential users. However, like most replicators outside of the small top tier in the U.S. that already have BD lines in place--Sony’s DADC, BMG’s Sonopress, Cinram, and Technicolor--Freedman says his company will wait until its customer base develops sufficient demand for BD.

Pierre Van Dongen, sales agent for Anwell, which recently sold its first BD 25 line in the U.S. to CD Video in California, said he has been receiving “numerous” RFQs (requests for quotes) from replicators, including mid-tier disc manufacturers. “The expectation is that in the short term, at least, there will be more demand than capacity, so the mid-tier replicators are evaluating the possibilities of overflow from the majors and from independent studios,” he said. “What will be the challenge is not building the lines but rather installing them, training on them and support, because the BD [manufacturing] process is still evolving.”

More Than BluBD may have been the big buzz, but Media-Tech had other components. It was the first time that the Frankfurt, Germany-based organization partnered its show with AIMMA(American Independent Media Manufacturers Association), IDDA (International Disc Duplicating Association), and the DVDA (DVD Association). 
Media-Tech managing director Bryan Ekus said, “Blu-ray’s emergence as the next-gen format is a signal for the industry to come back together.”

Gary Reeves, president of Rochester-based duplicator Spinergy and an AIMMA member, agreed but added that physical media is diverse enough to warrant subgroups that can focus on specialized facets of the business, such as AIMMA’s Colonial Purchasing co-op, which lets members pool consumables purchases to obtain larger volume discounts. Till this year, only replicators in AIMMA could participate; at their meeting during Media-Tech this year, the organization extended it to duplicators, as well. Media-Tech’s European expo is scheduled for May 6-8 in Frankfurt.

Dan Daley (danwriter at aol.com) is an experienced journalist and author, covering the business and technology of the entertainment industry for over 20 years. His work has appeared in numerous publications, both trade and general interest, including Billboard, The New York Daily News, Mix Magazine, GRAMMY Magazine, American Way, Spin, History Channel, TravelHost, International Business, USA Today, ArchiTech, and many others.

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