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CDR shortages to hit Europe this summer

Falling prices to blame as demand goes through the ceiling

Europe faces shortages of CDR disks due to unexpected demand, a CeBIT exhibitioner told The Register today. Distributor Pine Technology, has warned that the current shortages are likely to last until the summer. Nigel Lippard, managing director of Pine Technology, has predicted the situation will worsen for European consumers looking for top-level branded CDR media. He blamed falling hardware prices for the surge in demand. "If demand continues to outstrip supply, we are looking at a real shortage of quality branded media in Europe until the summer at least," he said. Lippard claims European CDR hardware sales could rise to around 500 million units in 1999, compared to last year's 300,000. This means Europe will be the hardest hit when supplies start to run out. The cause is a bit of a two-edged sword. To cool demand for a while the prices would have to go up. In addition, Japan has increased its own demand for the product, leaving less to export. According to Lippard, vendors are planning to up supply, but time is against them. ®

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