Blu-ray 50GB discs in production

I saw in the comments for the previous Blu-ray post, and in the tech news that Panasonic has started actual production on dual layer Blu-ray discs. The current yield is a bit better then 80% (press release) which isn’t an acceptable yield for final production, but is good for a start. They also have until Spring time to get the yields up to the 98% or so that regular DVD production lines currently have. Remember regular DVDs didn’t have double layers available for a while after launch. There is time for Blu-ray producers to get the yields up so that double layer is available at launch. We know that HD-DVD already has yields over 90% on dual layer so their Spring launch will have it for sure.
We probably won’t have good details on anything until January when the Blu-ray companies reveal details at the CES. Hopefully Sony will have more Playstation 3 details, such as a solid launch date and price information. (The PS3 will have a Blu-ray drive built in. Supposedly it will launch in Japan in the Spring. If they can get it out in the US in the Spring to mid-summer and keep the price below $400 or so then Blu-ray will have a huge hold on the market.)