Sony has announced it will stop producing recordable Blu-ray discs and other optical media at its facilities in Miyagi prefecture, Japan.
According to an interview with AV Watch, Sony will finally end development and production of recordable optical disc media, including Blu-ray discs, at its facilities in Tagajo City, Miyagi prefecture. Despite pioneering several unique technologies, such as mass production of four-layer recording discs, the company has decided not to move this production overseas.
Products Affected
The recordable optical discs affected by this decision include:
- Consumer recording discs: BD-RE (25 GB), BD-RE DL (50 GB), BD-RE XL (100 GB), and BD-R XL (128 GB)
- Professional video production discs
- Optical disc archives for data storage
The exact date for stopping production isn’t confirmed yet. For business-to-business (B2B) customers, Sony will continue to manufacture and sell products for now. For consumer products, they will decide the specific end date in consultation with distributors and wholesalers.
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Reason Behind the Decision
Sony Group PR explained that the decision is driven by underwhelming growth in the cold storage market and the ongoing poor performance of the storage media business. Consequently, they have decided to:
- Gradually end development and production of recordable optical discs and reduce staff in this area.
- Reduce staff in the tape media segment.
- Transition to a unified corporate structure from April 2025, aiming to align business size with market conditions and return to profitability through these changes.
Historical Context
Sony has a long history with optical discs, starting with the introduction of 12-inch and 8-inch write-once discs in 1986. They continued innovating with smaller, higher-capacity, and higher-density products. In 1998, they were the first to showcase the use of blue-violet semiconductor lasers for optical discs, which led to the successful consumer launch of Blu-ray discs in 2003.
In 2004, Sony introduced professional discs compatible with file-based broadcast workflows, and in 2013, they commercialized optical disc archives for storing large volumes of data, catering to broadcasters, public offices, and schools.
Sony's decision marks the end of an era for their recordable optical media, we all remember the times when our CD was broken, and we couldn't play our favorite PlayStation games. But they are poised to adapt to changing market conditions and continue serving their business clients with existing stock for the foreseeable future.