With Vista set to be shipped on PCs next year, Taiwanese optical disc drive manufacturers expect to increased business for both optical disc drives and pre-recorded discs according to this DigiTimes report. As the new Vista operating system will help push sales of new PCs and laptops as consumers replace their equipment to get or support the new OS, this will in turn push up the demand for half-height and slim-type drives that need to be included with these computers.
As Microsoft will also need to place a large order for Vista installation discs and PCs and periphericals will also need to include driver discs, these will also push up pre-recorded disc orders on Taiwanese manufacturers. Finally, CMC Magnetics and Ritek expect Vista to also increase the demand on backing up content, which will in turn increase the demand on recordable CD and DVD discs.
From what I can see, assuming Vista manages to attract consumers to take on the OS, there is likely to be a major growth in PC sales and PC hardware components such as memory and graphics cards to prepare existing PCs for the new OS. On the other hand, if consumers don't see what is so special about the new OS, sale could turn out no different to how they would be if Microsoft did not plan on releasing its new OS.
