Blu-ray DVD recorder sales rising fast in Japan

[akrako1]

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUST1342320080528

Blu-ray DVD recorder sales rising fast in Japan
Tue May 27, 2008 11:54pm EDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sales of high definition Blu-ray DVD recorders are zooming up in Japan as consumers take to the new generation of home movie entertainment after the end of a bitter format war.

Last month the more expensive Blu-ray recorders topped the old generation recorders in the value of sales for the first time, with around a third of machines sold now carrying the new format, research firm BCN Ltd said in a statement.

"Full high-definition picture quality has become a main stream for big-screen TVs, and camcorders with higher picture quality are getting popular, too," said BCN chief analyst Shigehiro Tanaka.

"From the input of data to output, high definition is taking root in Japan."

Japan was at the heart of the format war, which pitted the Blu-ray discs championed by Sony Corp (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) against Toshiba Corp's (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) HD-DVD discs.

Consumers held back waiting to see who would win the rerun of the 1970s battle between Betamax and VHS video tapes, until movie studios lined up behind Blu-ray and its rival bit the dust in February.

The April sales for Blu-ray in Japan were almost three times the 12.4 percent share for both formats in January, before HD-DVD's demise, BCN's survey figures showed.

Sales of the Blu-ray are expected to rapidly expand in coming months as makers such as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd (6752.T: Quote, Profile, Research) are likely to cut down prices in a lead-up to the Beijing Olympics, BCN said.

(Reporting by Taiga Uranaka and Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Rodney Joyce)

[dphirschler]

Are we talking about settop Bluray recorders, or do they mean players?


Darryl

[SmokieStover]

Are we talking about settop Bluray recorders, or do they mean players?


Darryl

Yep, it's recorders they are talking about. Due to the DRM groundwork layed in the US as part of the DTV transition, such recorders will never be sold here. Hell, the US scumbags are still bitching about the analog hole.

[happynow]

I use it .

[PuzZLeR]

Something about the culture in Japan makes it such a friendly consumer base for electronics and technology and in how they embrace it. They love the latest audio/video/game ware.

They don't whine about the latest stuff - they just buy it. They don't care for pirating as much as North Americans do - they want the original. They even have tech magazines that have weekly subscriptions whereas those equivalent issues may be bi-monthly in the U.S.

The DRM is not the same in Japan as it is here. In fact, many game houses give away games free off the 'Net because they know it will be downloaded in good faith to stimulate demand for the new sequel when it's being released.

I actually did my thesis on marketing digital assets, and the Japanese model was a great research area. Japan is amazing.

[usually_quiet]

Aside from loving to play with new toys (don't we all), most Japanese don't have the option of spending their money on some things that we North Americans do (such as big SUV's, big houses, and big yards, plus the associated costs for them), so they spend money on other things, like electronics and other "little" luxuries.

In addition to not having to deal with DRM, the patent laws are also different in Japan. They are not as broad there as they are in North America, and do a lot to fuel incremental technological innovation, so it's more likely to occur there, and be available there. For example, I read about a situation related to Epson and Canon inkjet printers. Both were granted patents in Japan for similar devices used to print directly on DVD's and CD's, but only Epson can sell it in the US, because they patented it here first. Canon won't pay the licensing fees to Epson that would be needed to sell printers with that feature here, so it is disabled in the US models.