Recordable optical disc manufacturer CMC Magnetics is positive about the demand for recordable Blu-ray and DVD discs the coming five years. The company especially expects that the demand for archival grade DVD discs will increase. 
Archival grade DVD recordables are designed to last much longer than regular DVD recordables, when properly stored. They are better resistant against humid circumstances and temperature fluctuations. Some manufacturers claim their discs will last over 1,000 years. Archival grade discs are mostly used as cold storage, where data that doesn't have to be available right away is stored on a disc in e.g. a safe. Cold storage is the opposite of hot storage, where data on e.g. a HDD is directly accessible.
However, Robert Wong, CEO of CMC reports that archival grade DVDs are also increasingly used as hot storage. According to Wong because, "such storage does not consume power and has higher level of information security."
CMC Magnetics and Panasonic are currently the only optical disc manufacturers that are certified by a Japanese certification organisation that tests archival grade optical discs. CMC received certificates for 100GB discs and is in the process of the certification of 200GB discs as well.
The market for optical discs has been declining the last years. Currently there are only a handful of optical disc manufacturers left. During the peak of the optical storage popularity there were about 200 Chinese manufacturers of blank optical discs. Currently there are about 3 Chinese manufacturers left. India based Moser Baer, once also a major player, went bankrupt last year.
Because there are only a few manufacturers left, prices of recordable optical discs have been increasing since the beginning of this year.
