The Chinese-made CBHD (China Blue High-definition Disc), China's answer to the high-definition Blu-ray format, reportedly has a slim lead over the Sony-created format in China.
A Japanese media report indicates CBHD, a format launched earlier in 2009, has a 3 percent market share lead over Blu-ray, which launched in China last year. A nation strife with piracy, very few consumers appear ready to pay the higher price for Blu-ray players and movies, and CBHD technology is much cheaper.
In an article published on CDFreaks earlier in the year, it was possible to find most CBHD movie players available for less than $300 USD, while movies were priced starting at $8 each.
Consumers in the west will continue to rely only on Blu-ray, as CBHD is aimed specifically at the 72 million Chinese consumers expected to purchase HDTVs over the next two years.
Blu-ray swiftly eliminated Toshiba's HD DVD format in North America, and is now the lone HD format available for U.S. shoppers. Despite being the only HD format, DVDs still outsell Blu-ray, as the majority of consumers have not seen the need to upgrade.
It will be interesting to see if CBHD supporters can widen the 3 percent gap in the coming months, and if Sony and the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) will attempt to engage in a price war with the Chinese format. I don't expect the BDA to engage in a price war, but perhaps they will attempt to market Blu-ray towards a different demographic than CBHD. If CBHD is aimed mainly at young people who likely pirate more content, then it might be wise for the BDA to try and market to older, wealthier Chinese citizens.
