Shinco is cutting VCD production by 1/3 next year. The new product to hit that market is CD-VCR. It uses a CD-RW/R drive and a MPEG-2 encoder/decoder.......................
globalsources.com
Outlook 2000: Mainland China
Recordability breathes new life into VCD industry
As the world's biggest supplier of VCD players, mainland China produced 15 million sets in 1999, 25 percent more than in 1998. Fifteen percent to 20 percent were exported to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, India and Russia
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However, the number of suppliers has dropped from about 500 last year to the current 300, due to competition and severe oversupply. Some ceased manufacturing, and some went bankrupt. Already being called a sunset product, VCD player output is projected to decrease further. "We will cut our output by one-third in 2000," said Zhan Shi-feng, chief of the technology department of Jiangsu Shinco Electronic Group Co. China.
VCD prices dropped sharply by an average of 30 percent in 1999. A single-disc VCD player is now quoted at $40, compared to the $60 it commanded at the beginning of 1998. Due to stiff competition as well as decreasing raw material costs, prices will fall again by 10 percent, makers said.
Some think there could still be a future for the VCD format. In November Xiamen Xiaxin Electronics Co. Ltd launched the world's first CD-VCR, a recordable SVCD player that uses MPEG-2 digital video realtime coding and decoding technology. The unit uses a CD-R or CD-RW disc to record A/V signals. It has all the functions of an SVCD player and a videocassette recorder.
The CD-VCR is expected to bring some life to the market when it enters the mainstream. Annual sales of 5 million units are predicted especially if makers re-enter the VCD industry.
"We will adopt the technology in 2000," said David Tian, general manager of Shenzhen Super Industrial Ltd. "The product is now also known as DVR (digital video recorder), and I am sure it will replace the VCR soon."
As for SVCD players, production is expected to overtake that of VCD units. SVCD models already account for 65 percent of the VCD market.
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