Sony has announced that it will be phasing out the production of recordable optical discs for the consumer market. From now on, this technology will be reserved for professional use, with consumers now largely preferring other forms of storage media.
The Japanese manufacturer Sony has decided to wind down production of four types of recordable Blu-ray discs, with storage capacities ranging from 25 to 128 GB, according to the Japanese website AV Watch. The news comes as no great surprise, given that demand for this type of storage has fallen steadily in recent years, in favor of other media such as USB flash drives and external hard drives, as well as cloud-based solutions.
The four types of media concerned are BD-RE, BD-RE DL, BD-RE XL and BD-R XL discs. However, Sony has not specified when production will cease for the consumer market. For their part, professionals will still be able to benefit from this type of media. Moreover, the scheduled end of recordable Blu-ray disc sales for home use does not mean that the Blu-ray format is being swept aside entirely. The technology remains in use, and many movies, TV shows and video games will continue to be released in Blu-ray format in the years to come.
In addition to Blu-ray, which is the optical disc that can store the most data, the production of recordable CDs and DVDs – currently a niche market – will also be gradually wound down. – AFP Relaxnews
