Major Japanese home electronics manufacturers such as Toshiba and Pioneer are preparing to release DVD recorders overseas according to Japanese sources. In September, Toshiba will begin marketing DVD recorders in North America, aiming to sell 10,000 units a month. It will start selling them in the U.K. in October, and in such other countries as France and Germany in November and beyond. Toshiba is targeting monthly sales of 5,000 units in each of these markets.
Production will be outsourced to a Chinese audiovisual equipment manufacturer, and the machines will be exported from that country to the U.S. and Europe. The DVD recorders will be sold for the equivalent of about Y60,000 (£320).
The models sold overseas will be compatible with DVD-RAM and DVD-RW, the two competing DVD recording standards.
Pioneer will start shipping DVD recorders to the U.S. and Europe in October. Projecting sales of 60,000 units in each of these markets by March 31, 2004, the company hopes to have overseas sales account for 20% of total revenues from its DVD recorder business in fiscal 2003.
The DVR-77H, an 80GB hard-disk model capable of 102 hours of video recording, and DVR-99H, a 120GB model with a 153-hour recording capacity, will be the primary versions sold in the U.S. and Europe. Both models will be made at a Chinese subsidiary and sold for around Y100,000 (£530).
Consumer electronics firms have traditionally marketed their audiovisual products in Japan before introducing them in the U.S. and Europe. But this spring, Matsushita launched DVD recorder sales simultaneously in Japan, the U.S. and Europe.
According to the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association, the global DVD recorder and player market is estimated at 53.65 million units in 2003, up 19.1% on the year. In contrast, the VCR market is projected to shrink 13.8% to 29.52 million units.
