FYI - Sharp aims BD market in Malaysia with BD-HP20A

[WriteSimply]

Originally Posted by The Edge Daily

KUALA LUMPUR: Sharp-Roxy Sales & Service Company (M) Sdn Bhd has signed on a partnership with Speedy Video Distributors Sdn Bhd to promote Blu-ray hardware and software in Malaysia.

In the agreement signed yesterday, Sharp will invest RM300,000 to RM400,000 to set up special display corners at 20 Speedy Video outlets nationwide, 12 of which will be ready by year-end. There are about 70 Speedy Video outlets in the country.

The display corners will showcase the full high-definition (HD) LCD set, which consists of the Sharp 48-inch HD LCD television and the AQUOS Blu-ray player, while Speedy Video’s full range of Blu-ray Hollywood movie titles will be available at the selected outlets.

The tie-up is one of Sharp’s initiatives to promote its AQUOS Blu-ray player, which was launched in October, and it has sold 300 units so far.

Sharp managing director Tatsuya Miyagi said Sharp aimed to capture 30% of the estimated local Blu-ray player market of 2,000 units by year-end, adding that the current DVD market demand was estimated at 400,000 to 500,000 units per year.

“We believe the Blu-ray disc will replace the DVD by 2010. Incidentally, we estimate our LCD television demand to reach 500,000 units,” said Miyagi.

Sharp general manager Lim Nyien Leng said the company aimed to capture 40% of the Blu-ray player local market share in 2008, which was expected to increase to 10,000 units as demand grew and prices of Blu-ray discs start to drop accordingly.

Other promotion efforts include the in-store promotion where consumers who purchase the AQUOS Blu-ray player are entitled to two free Blu-ray titles, which are redeemable at any Speedy Video outlet.

Only top Hollywood titles are currently available in the Blu-ray format at the outlets as Speedy Video is the sole licensee for Fox and Warner Brothers films.
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Locally assembled, Sharp’s AQUOS Blu-ray player is the world’s slimmest at 68mm in thickness and is compatible with DVDs as well.

Read the full article on The Edge Daily here.

Not a big deal for you guys but it's still pretty cool. The machine and the display is pretty impressive. I will around to tell them which movies to play and which to avoid.


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