A little on LiteON (taken from LiteONs website)

Corporate Information
Lite-On IT Corporation is part of the Taiwanese Lite-On Group, which consists of nine consolidated companies. Lite-On Group is a world leading company in digital convergence (3C: Computer, Communications, and Consumer electronics) employing 35,000 people worldwide. Lite-On Group has 45 factories, 29 branch offices, and 4 R&D centers worldwide and generated total revenue of approximately 7 Billion USD in 2005.

The roots of Lite-On IT lie in Taipei, Taiwan, where Lite-On Electronics Inc. was founded in 1975. Back then the core business consisted of production of clock-display LEDs. Because LED (Light Emitting Diode) formed the mainstay of Lite-On in the early years, the English word "Light" inspired the corporate name.

In the twenty years that followed, Lite-On gradually expanded its business throughout the Asian Pacific region to become a respected Taiwanese manufacturer with various established subsidiaries that form Lite-On Group today.

Company Profile
Lite-On IT started of as a business unit within Lite-On Technology Corporation in 1995. By that time the market for Optical Disc Drives (ODD) was growing very fast, and to be able to play a significant role in this, Lite-On Technology decided to establish a dedicated business unit to produce high quality CD-ROM drives. A large manufacturing facility was established in China to meet all demands and Lite-On soon became Taiwan's biggest CD-ROM drive manufacturer, and number three worldwide.

Due to the growing success in the ODD market, Lite-On IT transformed from a relatively small business unit to an independent subsidiary of Lite-On Group, producing over 1 million drives per month. In 1999, the foundation of Lite-On IT Corporation as the youngest member of the Lite-On Group was a fact. Besides headquarters in Taipei, branch offices were established in the United States (California) and Europe (The Netherlands).

In the years to follow, Lite-On IT continued its growth in the ODD business, by setting extensive distribution networks in Europe and the United States. With the introduction of more ODD products, like CD-RW, DVD-ROM, COMBO and DVD-RW drives, Lite-On IT increased it's production from 1 million drives per month in 1999, to no less then 5 million drives per month in 2005. With this unique achievement Lite-On IT became the world's second biggest ODD manufacturer.

Today I’ll be reviewing one of LiteONs latest Optical Disc Drives – the iHAS524 – The 24 x internal DVD/CD writer, which also supports LabelTag. LabelTag is a LiteON owned innovation which allows you to “Tag” any CD/DVD – not just specifically certified ones.

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