It seems like the optical drive manufacturers are finally catching onto SATA, as according to a post on Digitimes, the Taiwanese optical drive manufacturers are finally embracing the interface whole heartedly.

From the second half this year, SATA should be the predominant interface for optical drives such as DVD-ROM and DVD writers. Although a few manufacturers such as Plextor, MSI and Samsung were early with SATA drives and others have followed since, they've had a price premium compared to IDE drives and usually been longer in terms of size compared to their IDE counterparts.

It seems like it's the OEM/ODM partners that is driving the market this way, as they're requesting SATA over IDE. However, one could also presume it has something to do with the fact that Intel ditched IDE on the P/G965 chipset and the new P35/G33 chipsets won't have IDE either.

You can read the full story here.