Panasonic chases European Blu-ray recorder market

Panasonic is set to launch its range of Blu-ray video recorders in Europe, starting with France, the electronics giant announced on Thursday at the IFA consumer electronics show. Panasonic already sells Blu-ray recorders in markets including Japan and Australia, and cites France’s high penetration of high definition content as the reason why it will be the first European country to see Panasonic Blu-ray recorders.

Both the entry-level DMP-BD35 and the higher-end DMP-BD55 feature high definition television tuners. They support all flavors of Blu-ray disc along with the BD-Live system for interactive content. The recorders are also compatible with the AVCHD format used in Panasonic’s high-definition camcorders, allowing home movies to be copied to Blu-ray disc. They also sport SD card slots.

Panasonic expects Blu-ray’s share of the video player market in Europe, North America and Japan to hit 65 percent by 2011, Panasonic’s video business unit director Takuya Sugita said at a news conference at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin.
 
Panasonic aims to capture a 20 percent share for players and a 40 percent share for recorders, Sugita said.