An article over at c|net mentions the high cost of Blu-ray disc manufacturing. Supposedly it’s currently a lot more expensive than producing HD DVD discs.

in at least one early test, according to a top manufacturing executive who asked to remain anonymous, a manufacturing line for HD DVD discs produced nearly twice as many usable discs as a similar line pumping out the Blu-ray format, over the same period of time. That translates into higher costs for Blu-ray producers.

However, two things must be noted.

1. This is an early test. As manufacturers get to grips with Blu-ray technologies, costs will certainly come down.

2. There’s always BD-9. It’s a red-laser HD format that Warner Brothers insisted on when joining the Blu-ray camp. We know that using the latest compression technologies an HD movie can fit onto a standard DVD. That’s basically what BD-9 is, and it’s part of the Blu-ray format. So if manufacturers find the cost of creating blue-laser BD discs too expensive, they can always go red laser!

c|net - Cost questions dog Blu-ray DVD’s lead