Recordable Optical Disc Market Shrinking – Future Market Insights

Future Market Insights (FMI) announces a market research report, titled Recordable Optical Disc Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2015-2025 ($4,500).

The recordable optical disc volume, valued at 8,196 million units in 2013, is estimated to drop to 4,224 million units by 2025. It is forecasted that recordable optical disc market to witness a decremental unit opportunity of 3,636 million units between 2014 and 2025.

FMI has segmented the recordable optical disc market on the basis of product into DVD, CD, and Blu-ray disc (BD). Among these, only BD is expected to witness a positive CAGR during the forecast period 2015-2025.

In terms of volume, the Blu-ray disc segment of the recordable optical disc market is expected to expand at 7.7% CAGR through 2025, reaching 2,513 million units.

Global recordable optical disc market share
by product type, 2014

The key factors fuelling the demand for Blu-ray discs include increasing demand for high volume storage discs and content protection against piracy. In contrast, the demand for CDs is expected to witness a sharp decline.

The CDs will become a rarity by 2025, as new technologies will completely take over the market. The global CD market, current to the tune of 2,392.2 milllion units in terms of sales is expected to decline and account for only 276.7 Mn units by 2025.

FMI has also analyzed the sub-segments of the global recordable optical disc market. The key sub-segments include CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, and DVD-RW. FMI expects all these sub-segments to witness declining sales through 2025, with CD-R sub-segment witnessing a CAGR of -19.9% during the forecast period.

North America dominated the market with over 41.4% share in the overall recordable optical disc market in 2014. Western Europe ranked second with 18.0% market share in 2014, followed by APEJ and Japan.

FMI has also segmented the global recordable optical disc market on the basis of end users. The key end use segments include media and entertainment, healthcare, educational institutes, and others. The demand for recordable optical discs is expected to witness a decline in each of the aforementioned end use segments. The media segment, which currently accounts for the highest demand for recordable optical discs, is expected to witness a negative CAGR of 4.3% in terms of volume during the forecast period 2015-2025. The media industry dominated the market for recordable optical discs in 2014 and is expected to dominate in terms of volume share by 2025.

The media and entertainment segment is the most dominant, and currently accounts for the highest share of Blu-ray discs and HD-DVDs. FMI expects the demand for holographic versatile discs and protein-coated discs to surge in the future in the media and entertainment sector.

The optical disc market in media and entertainment sector was valued at $2991.8 million in 2015; FMI expects this market to expand at a CAGR of 0.17% during the period 2015-2025. Although the growth is marginal, media and entertainment is the only application segment that is expected to witness positive growth during the forecast period.

The healthcare sector is also a dominant consumer of optical discs. Recordable optical discs are used for storing medical information, such as patient health records. However, owing to the incorporation of digital transformation in healthcare, the demand for optical discs is declining. FMI expects the healthcare segment of the global recordable optical disc market to decline at a CAGR of -1.54% during the forecast period 2015-2025.

Key companies covered in the report include Fujifilm Holdings Corporation, Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd., Hitachi Maxell Ltd., CMC Magnetics Corporation, Imation Corp., RITEK Corporation, Sony Corporation, Moser Baer India Limited, Falcon Technologies International L.L.C. and Singulus Technologies.