LG / Hitachi end production of optical drives

[Coopervid]

Asmcom posted this in his seller's thread:


Hello everyone,

I spoke today with a Senior Sales representative at Hitachi Europe. He confirmed that the Hitachi BU40N, BP55, and BP60 are now end-of-life.

He also confirmed that all Hitachi 5.25" Blu-ray drives are now end-of-life products.

Sad news for the community.

Kind regards

Asmcom

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=19387&start=1440

[zittrig]

A friend of mine has buyed a BU40N with production date March 2026. Not a fake, it came with fw 1.05 and was able to flash to 1.03MK and works perfectly. "End of Life" seems to mean a broad period of time here?! This is the newest drive I've seen since the production stop was announced.

[Sayaka]

"End of Life" seems to mean a broad period of time here?!

Yep. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised at all if it were possible to find genuine BP55EB40s and possibly also "pure" BU40Ns with later manufacturing dates than March 2026. I *think* now it might be over for good, though.

[Coopervid]

I would be positively surprised if dates later than March 2026 would appear. But I doubt it.

[Sayaka]

Theoretically, it should go as far as May 2026.

[boguslecina]

It could also simply mean that production will cease only under the Hitachi-LG brand (standalone drives). OEM products, such as those for Verbatim, may still be manufactured on a contract basis....