A gap in the independent Blu-ray manufacturing market in European has led to at least one replicator setting up its own production line. In a few days’ time, kdg will see its first Blu-ray production line commissioned at the kdg headquarters in Elbigenalp, Austria. Manufacturing partner InfoDisc Technology in Germany had previously processed kdg’s Blu-ray orders, managing director Michael Hosp (pictured) told Digital2Disc. “But the insolvency and subsequent closure of Infodisc created a gap in BD supplies on the independents’ market just before Christmas, so we decided to set up our own BD production line,” he explained. “It’s an exciting moment for us.”
The team is looking forward to the new challenge, Hosp added, with the demand for Blu-ray Discs increasing substantially over the previous year. “Since we regard ourselves as a general contractor for independents in the media sector and have already been offering Blu-ray authoring services for over a year, it was important for us to have our own Blu-ray Disc manufacturing operations if only to bolster the flexibility of our customer support.”
kdg has also brought on board Michael Gutowski, the previous owner and managing director of Infodisc Technology GmbH, to build up and develop the sales side of the Blu-ray production operations. Gutowski had been instrumental in preparing the ground for Blu-ray in the independent sector, said Hosp.
“He is passionate about sales and marketing, and a long-standing partner. We’re delighted that we will be working closely together on Blu-ray projects in future. In addition to our clear commitment to the media sector, we also share the same pioneering spirit. kdg was, after all, one of the first CD plants in Europe, and Michael Gutowski demonstrably the first independent BD supplier in Europe.”
In addition to its sales and distribution centres in Elbigenalp and Paris, as well as a sales office in Merano, Italy, the kdg group is also about to open a sales office in Baden-Baden, Germany.
