Report: CBHD Discs Outsell Blu-ray by 3-1 Margin in China

Submitter: Starlight - (http://arstechnica.com)

Site Tags: report cbhd discs outsell blu-ray 3-1 margin china

Category: PC/Tech

Japanese site TV-Tokyo.co.jp reported on the progress of China Blue High Definition (CBHD is a China-grown competitor to Blu-ray) in the China market, with CBHD penetration hitting a staggering 30 percent in only a few months on the market.

To quote: "TV Tokyo visited Gome, a major retail chain in China, where CBHD discs and players were flying off the shelf, while Blu-ray players and discs languished. They also visited a factory for one of the largest CBHD manufacturers.

Sources in these companies tell TV Tokyo that, in the China market, CBHD already constitutes some 30 percent of all disc players sold, while Blu-ray accounts for 10 percent, similar to its penetration in the USA. DVD is responsible for the remaining 60 percent.

That China has achieved 30 percent CBHD penetration, the sources say, reflects the strength of the format, as well as the determination of a nationalistic Chinese government and industry seeking to avoid foreign licensing fees on DVD and BD technology and make a greater profit on domestic sales."

CBHD players are currently more expensive than DVD players (almost $300), but the retail discs are cheap at roughly $7.40 US, while Blu-ray discs cost $29.60 US.

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Posted 220 days ago

7 Comments

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By tilla on 31 weeks ago:

Must be real easy to bootleg on, otherwise China wouldn't want it

By semitope on 31 weeks ago:

This kinda thing can be suspicious in so many ways. My ignorant assumption for now is that this counterfeits bluray in some way. The players cost the same but the discs are cheaper...

Bluray needs to become cheaper definitely

By Preceptor on 31 weeks ago:

Woot... I never heard of CBHD media before.

According to wikipedia it's very similar in many ways to the defunct HD-DVD... Will china resurrect HD-DVD with another name and a competitive price? If the entire china market supports it, the rest of the world will have to recognize it... Cuz... Like it or not, we're talking about 1.3 billion people...

Frightening...

By semitope on 31 weeks ago:

Quote:

CBHD will use the AVS audio and video codec, owned by the Chinese government.

That will likely prevent it doing too much damage to bluray outside of china. HDdvd failed so why would cbhd succeed (its hddvd with diff codecs from the wikipedia article). What would happen is that media destined for china would be placed on cbhd per request of the government while bluray stays for consumers outside of china.

Bluray prices still need to drop for them to have any kind of security against this format tho.

By red8316 on 31 weeks ago:

"... but the retail discs are cheap at roughly $7.40 US, while Blu-ray discs cost $29.60 US." Is this talking about movies or blank media. Because I have seen blank Blu-ray discs at Costco Canada for around $8 or $9.

By semitope on 31 weeks ago:

thats the cost the big movie companies are putting out movies at. Well warner bros.....

Quote:

In early March 2009, Warner Bros announced that they would be supporting the CBHD format, launching with titles including the Harry Potter series and Blood Diamond, with discs selling for between 50 and 70 yuan (roughly $7.25 to $10.15).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBHD