Sharp to Manufacture Blue Laser Diodes

Blue laser diodes are required for both BD and HD-DVD players/burners; and only Sony is currently having them in large scale production. The problem is that most of the manufactured diodes end up in the brand new PlayStation 3, cannibalizing most of them for third parties and contributing to the high prices of blue laser-based devices.
Things might change in a near future as Sharp announced opening of production lines able to deliver 150,000 diodes per month, and preparing to scale up if necessary.
Such numbers will not have a real impact on consumer market before months, but it is a beginning, and it is always better to rely on more than only one supplier. But for sure it is the first step towards cheaper blue laser devices.