Magneto-optical disk drives have failed to unseat magnetic disks from the market as many assumed they would have done by now, and Mitsui Petrochemical Industries Ltd is considering pulling out of the optical disk business because of the slower than expected growth: it began sales of 3.5 and 5.25 optical disks made at a plant in Sodegaura, Chiba prefecture, with total capacity of 200,000 disks a year; as reported, in December, Sumitomo Chemical Co Ltd, Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd and Daicel Chemical Industries Ltd said they would liquidate their Optical Storage Corp magneto-optical disk joint venture by end-1993 because of the poorer than expected market demand.
