Fujitsu Ltd
said on Tuesday it would launch desktop personal computers equipped
with Blu-ray disc drives in June in Japan, becoming the first company
to release PCs compatible with the next-generation optical discs.

The announcement comes one day after Toshiba Corp. unveiled its plan to launch in mid-May notebook computers that can
handle HD DVD discs, which compete with Blu-ray discs in the market for
high-definition optical discs.

Fujitsu, Japanese
chips-to-computers conglomerate, also plans to launch notebook PCs with
HD DVD drives in June, catering for both camps.

The new desktop
PC from Fujitsu comes with a 37-inch liquid crystal display (LCD)
screen and is expected to sell for around 600,000 yen ($5,063), a
Fujitsu spokesman said.

He added the notebook PC is likely to
retail at about 400,000 yen — in line with the expected retail price
for Toshiba’s HD-DVD compatible notebook PCs.

At the core of both
DVD formats are blue lasers, which have a shorter wavelength than the
red lasers used in current DVD equipment, allowing discs to store data
at the higher densities needed for high-definition movies and
television.

Shares in Fujitsu were down 2.3 percent at 988 yen by
midday, underperforming the Tokyo stock market’s electrical machinery
index, which fell 1.94 percent.

Reuters.com