Technicolor Signs 3-Year Pact With Microsoft

Camarillo-based Technicolor has entered into a three-year manufacturing and technology contract with Microsoft Corp. to replicate millions of discs, beginning with Windows 2000.

Under terms of the agreement, Technicolor will be Microsoft’s leading supplier of tens of millions of discs per year. To accommodate production, the company is increasing its worldwide replication capacity by 30 million units per year with the addition of eight new manufacturing lines.

When that is done, Technicolor, one of Microsoft’s five suppliers, will have a global capacity to produce more than 325 million discs annually.

“This represents a major step forward in Technicolor’s ongoing relationship with Microsoft,” said Lanny Raimondo, chief executive of the Technicolor Group. “We will be providing a full service from anti-piracy technology through to manufacturing and distribution.”

Raimondo said that for the first time, Technicolor will earn significant licensing income from anti-piracy technology it developed with Applied Holographics PLC. The technology, which was developed by 3DCD, a joint venture between Technicolor and Applied Holographics, enables a hologram image to be placed on the full surface of the disc without affecting the capacity or integrity of the content, company officials said. Joachim Kempin, senior vice president of Microsoft, said it is vitally important for his company to protect its software products from counterfeiting. “Technicolor continues to provide the industry’s most advanced anti-piracy measures,” Kempin said.

Technicolor is a wholly owned subsidiary of Carlton Communications PLC. It is the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of prerecorded videocassettes and a leading firm in replicating optical media, including DVD, DVD-ROM, CD and CD-ROM.