The European growth reflects Verbatim’s strong position in the CD-R market. From a total of 2.2 billion CD-Rs sold in 2005 every fourth disc was produced by Verbatim.  The company's market share for 2005 was 26.4% compared to 2004 this represents a growth of 5.8% in an extremely competitive market.

In 2004 Verbatim was brand leader with a 20.8% share in the European DVD R market, which sold a total of 471 million units. In 2005 the total number of DVD R sold in Europe rose to 1.1 billion and Verbatim maintained its brand leader position, and increased its sales 5% over 2004 figures to achieve a market share of 25.9%.

Verbatim has also increased its market share in the DVD RW media market sector by more than 3% to 20%. Verbatim is now the number two brand in the European market. The overall rewritable DVD market grew from 55.4 million units in 2004 to 104.3 million in 2005.

Regarding the figures in the UK, the results reflect this development. While Verbatim sold 27.1 percent of all recordable CDs in 2004, it increased its market share to 27.6 percent in 2005. In the DVD sector, the numbers are even more impressive. Verbatim UK sold 32.9 percent of all recordable DVD media in 2004, while in 2005 the company supplied 31.7 percent of the demand for this media.

The figures for the UK also reflect this development with Verbatim selling 27.6% of all recordable CDs in 2005 - an increase of 0.5% over 2004. However, in the DVD sector the figures are more dramatic with an overall market increase of 325% to 1.4 billion units sold and Verbatim's share of this was 31.7%, While less than the previous year in percentage terms (32.9% in 2004) it is a substantial volume increase for the company.

Rüdiger Theobald, Verbatim's Marketing and Business Development Manager EUMEA, credits the company's growing market share to its ability to combine high reliability, stability and longevity with high performance and broad compatibility. “With 16X DVD writers accounting for the majority of writers being sold today, consistent media quality has become even more important for professionals, businesses and consumers because higher-speed CD/DVD burners and recorders are less tolerant of media imperfections,” he noted.

Ron Stuart, UK General Manager continued saying, "Reliability is extremely important and our background in media stretches back almost 40 years. Our customers are also aware that our parent company spends almost 20% of its budget on research and development to ensure that we remain at the forefront of technology. This message is obviously getting through to the consumer."

Verbatim DVD R discs are produced with patented Metal AZO recording layer technology which provides increased sensitivity to laser light — the key requirement for high-speed recording.  It also controls the heat interference between consecutive recorded marks. This substantially reduces the jitter and enables superior recording characteristics across the entire range of available recording speeds, from 1x to 16x. In addition to the superior recording layer, the discs are manufactured using Verbatim’s advanced precision molding technology which ensures a consistently flat disc surface and minimizes errors during high-speed recording.

To maintain its leadership position, Verbatim continues to develop advanced and innovative storage solutions for the future, including Blu-ray and High Definition DVD (HD DVD) media technology.

About Verbatim:
According to the influential Santa Clara Consulting Group Verbatim was the leading supplier of recordable CD and DVD media in Europe for 2005, maintaining the position it achieved in 2004.

Verbatim UK is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Kagaku Media that spends 20% of its annual budget on research and development to keep in the forefront of technological development.

Verbatim designs, develops and manufactures high performance, high quality media products including DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, CD-R, CR-RW, audio products, MO and UDO media. Additionally it has a range of memory cards, USB devices, hard disk drives and floppy disks, tape media and accessories and printer consumables. Verbatim is the complete media storage company. For further information visit www.verbatim-europe.com

Editorial Contacts:
Helen Picot-Yew, UK Marketing Executive
Verbatim Ltd, Prestige House, 23-26 High Street, Egham, Surrey, TW20 9DU
Tel.: 01784-896214; hpicotyew@verbatim-europe.com

Maggi Fox, PR Consultant, Maggi Fox Consultancy
Tel: 01793 784344/07770  754811  maggi@maggi-fox.co.uk