DVD, Blu-Ray: Sony no longer wants to produce silver discs

Do you still have a DVD player? And when was the last time you saved a movie on a DVD?

Those who watch blockbusters and series today almost exclusively use streaming providers such as Netflix & Co., the good old DVD has become obsolete for most people. And more flexible solutions such as cloud storage or USB sticks are used to archive films.

No more writable silver coins

Media giant Sony is drawing the consequences and plans to stop producing optical media – at least not the blanks on which you can films and series This marks the end of the silver disc era as a data storage device. The classic CD is also affected.

The company has been the market leader in optical storage media since 1986. In the mid-1990s, DVDs replaced the classic video cassette. This meant that masses of films and series could not only be watched, but also stored. In 2003, Sony was the first company to bring Blu-ray discs onto the market in addition to DVDs. These have better picture quality than DVDs.

What is still available on DVD and Blu-Ray

Now the recordable DVDs and Blu-Rays are to be discontinued, reports “Golem.de”. Since the business with optical data storage devices for end customers is no longer profitable, Sony is planning to stop production. An exact date has not been given, but insiders say it will happen this year. Specifically, the discs affected are BD-RE (25 GB), BD-RE DL (50 GB), BD-RE XL (100 GB) and BD-R XL (128 GB).

However, DVD and Blu-Ray production for business customers such as the film industry is not affected. Blockbusters and series can therefore still be purchased.

The production stop will of course also affect Sony employees: the closure will result in around 250 jobs being lost in development and production at the data storage facility. According to Sony, there are no plans to move production to a cheaper location.