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MacBidouille notes that sales of double-layer DVD blanks are set to go through the roof – more or less – in 2006, with sales expected to quadruple.

With nearly all new DVD burners now offering double-layer (DVD-9 or 8.5GB) support, sales have hit the 50 million annually sales mark. Next year, vendors expect 200 million will be sold.

Although the DVD-R 8.5GB format lags well behind sales of DVD+R DL, manufacturers of blanks, such as TDK, have ramped up production of the Pioneer-led DVD-R format. Gradually, new DVD writers are incorporating support for both -R and +R DL formats, as are software developers.

Prices of double-layer/dual layer DVD+R/-R media has fallen considerably in 2005 as well. Media costs around $5.50 a piece, with bulk purchases even cheaper on a per-unit basis.

However, it remains to be seen whether DL will merely be an interim solution; Blu-Ray and HD-DVD home video recorders will be in the stores by Xmas this year, with storage capacities more than 5 times that of DL media.