Sony has announced that it intends to close its Sony Optiarc optical drive manufacturing division by March 2013 as part of a broader restructure.
According to Tom’s Hardware, the division predominantly manufactures DVD burners, BluRay players and other optical drives for desktop PC manufacturers.
However, despite controlling around 15% of the market, the division has delivered losses due to tough competition and price pressures.
Sony is currently in the middle of a major restructure that will see 10,000 jobs cut, representing 6% of its global workforce. The restructuring was announced after Sony reported a record annual loss of $US6.4 billion.
The news comes after speculation emerged earlier this month that Apple might ditch optical drives in its next-generation iMac and Mac Pro devices, as consumers increasingly turn to high-speed broadband networks and cloud storage to store and transfer files.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
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