JVC Hopes Blank DVDs May be the Ticket out of Troubleby David KenderPublished on Aug 9, 2006 8:00 AM 
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August 9, 2006 - Following closely on Monday’s statement that Matsushita will remain hands-off in JVC’s efforts to save itself, JVC may have a plan. The Victor Company of Japan (JVC) will invest 1 billion yen (US $8.7 million) to ramp up production of recordable DVDs, with a goal of 4.5 million discs per month by the year’s end, according to Forbes.com.
JVC’s recent losses have been a major concern to Matsushita (which operates under the brand name Panasonic) and their new president, Fumio Ohtsubo. Panasonic has had a banner year so far due to an exploding plasma TV market, but a bleeding JVC remains tied to the company. Earlier this week, Ohtsubo stated that Matsushita has confidence that JVC can move itself out of the slump, and that Matsushita would not attempt to fix the problem themselves.
Last week the company announced that they would begin producing 8cm and 12cm DVD-R dual layer discs (with capacities of 2.6GB and 8.5GB, respectively). Sensing a possible means out of the red, JVC plans to increase production capacity for the media by 80% by the end of the year. A manufacturing plant in Mito, Japan, currently manufacturing videocassettes and single-sided, single-layer recordable DVDs, will be revamped in order to produce single-sided dual layer discs. DVD-RW dual layer discs, also developed by JVC, are forthcoming.
JVC does not manufacture DVD camcorders, but several other companies do, including Panasonic, Sony, Canon, and Samsung. DVD camcorders have grown in popularity in the last few years, and JVC seems to be hoping to rise with the tide.