While DVD player sales have bypassed VCR sales quite a long time ago, DVD recorders on the other hand are still too expensive for average consumer. In order to cut pricing and boost sales, Taiwan had announced plans back in July to vastly boost production of DVD recorders in an aim to cut prices possibly to below $100 by mid 2005 and become at least the #2 global supplier.
Recently, retail prices have significantly fallen with the lowest retail price hitting the equivalent of US$154 locally in Taiwan, down from US$185 at the start of November. Teco's price fell from US$278 to US$238 and BenQ's price fell from US$399 to US$293 also. Taiwan is not the only market to cut prices as Philips has also halved its entry level DVD Recorder price from US$615 to US$305.
The next step will be to bring down DVD/HDD recorder pricing. These are gaining popularity since they give the consumer the features of a HDD PVR with the ability to transfer recordings they wish to keep to DVD. Also, DVD/HDD recorders would be more compatible with the upcoming broadcast flag in the US since it is not clear how DVD-only recorders would be set up react to the broadcast flag's 'one playback only', 'expires after xx/yy/zz' and so on. Back in July DVD/HDD recorders were retailing at over $400 in the US and this is expected to fall by 20% next year. GristyMcFisty submitted the following news via our news submit:
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The retail prices for entry-level DVD recorder models from two other local brands have also dropped, with Teco lowering its price 14.5% from NT$8,990 (US$278) to NT$7,688 (US$238), and BenQ lowering its price 26.4% from NT$12,900 (US$399) to NT$9,490 (US$293). International brands are also cutting their prices, with Philips slashing its entry-level model by 49.8% from NT$19,900 (US$615) to NT$9,990 (US$309), and Pioneer dropping the price on its entry-level model 20.1%, from NT$24,900 (US$770) to NT$19,900 (US$615). However, the sources in the retail channel have doubts as to whether the price cuts will stimulate demand. |
With DVD recorders falling closer to a price at that most consumers can afford, this will be certainly soon mark the death of video recorder sales in most stores. So far Dixon's is the first to announce discontinuing the sale of video recorders once its stock clears. While DVD players have long been outselling VCR's, they do have the drawback that they cannot record, leaving a limited choice to the consumer of resorting back to purchasing a VCR or paying a fairly hefty price for a DVD recorder or PVR.
Besides cutting prices on DVD recorders, usage will have be as simple to use as the traditional VCR. Many inexperienced consumers simply know how to operate the basic controls and visibly check the tape to see how much is left. With DVD, these consumers would also expect to be able to record to DVD in similar manner to how they have done with VHS.
Feel free to discuss and find out more about DVD recorders and other set-top boxes on our Stand Alone Devices & Home Entertainment Forum.
Source: DigiTimes Systems
