A startup named Folio Photonics is working on a new physical media format that may replace Blu-ray by offering much greater capacity than Sony’s option. According to an email that TechRadar recently received from Steve Santamaria, CEO of Folio Photonics, the initial capacity of the company’s first disc will be 1 TB, with 10 TB+ of capacity being targeted by the end of the decade. The first drives will cost $3,000 to $5,000.
From a TechRadar report:
The startup has already disclosed on its side that media will cost around $3 per TB, which puts the price of a single disc at $3. Travis Johnston, Director, Market Strategy at Folio Photonics added, “While the actual specs have not yet been published, we believe this capacity and suggested price point to be highly achievable due to our materials/manufacturing innovations.”
Folio Photonics optical disc drive (ODD) will unfortunately command a steep premium in the range of $3,000 to $5,000 at least initially. Like CD, then DVD and Blu-ray writers, cost efficiencies through economies of scale – as Folio’s technology gains adoption – and reusing existing supply chains are likely to slash that by at least one order of magnitude if things go to plan.
Blu-ray is an optical disc format that Sony first introduced to the market in 2003, popularized by devices that include the PlayStation 3. It offers much greater capacity than DVD, a format that it successfully replaced, making it suitable for high-definition material. Blu-ray is available in 25 GB (single layer), 50/66 GB (dual layer), and 100/128 GB (BDXL) capacities.