TSST to Cease Optical Drives Production

The Toshiba-Samsung consortium entitled TSST is known for manufacturing a huge range of optical drives since 2004. Of course, the advent of affordable flash media and cloud-based storage has made optical drives less relevant to enthusiasts who dislike the notion of using an internal drive which creates additional cable clutter. As a result, some users decide to purchase an external optical drive instead. Honestly, I haven’t used an optical drive for a considerable amount of time and always rely on various flash devices. Saying that, optical media is useful in certain scenarios. For example, consumers living in countries with poor internet speeds find it beneficial to purchase games using optical media instead of downloading the files via Steam.

Despite this, TSST has reportedly ceased production of optional drives. In an interview with KitGuru, a TSST sales manager confirmed:

“It’s true that TSST(Samsung ODD) stopped production from Mid-April.”  

“We will continue the ODD business aggressively to obtain about 50% of market share,” and will “release a new ODD to the market,”

Initially, it appeared that the company was going to halt optical drive production completely and focus on more profitable endeavours. However, the second statement suggests they’re moving towards newer forms of optical drives which could refer to 4K Blu Rays. Whatever the case, it seems that the amount of people opting for optical drives is becoming rather slim due to the digital age.

Do you still use an optical drive?

Image courtesy of Overclock.net