11-16-2003, 02:44 PM
Ahora China quiere imponer estándares...
Enhanced Video DIsc::::::::::::::::::::::::::>
The latest sleek silver box built by Chineseelectronics maker Yuxing Infotech looks little different from countless other video disc players stacked under television sets around the world.
This one, however, is special - it plays Enhanced Versatile Discs, or EVDs, a homegrown Chinese standard that will be launched next week and which its corporate backers hope will soon be challenging the DVD for the loyalties of couch potatoes everywhere.
"We can offer a much better audio and visual experience than DVD," says Hao Chieh, president of Beijing E-world Technology, the venture set up by a consortium of Chinese DVD player producers to develop the new standard.
The idea of China as the source of a new electronics format may surprise consumers used to the dominance of US, European and Japanese companies but the EVD push is part of a broad effort by China to play a greater role in shaping global standards.
PC and consumer electronics companies have teamed up to develop a standard for communication between devices such as computers and mobile phones, while local telecommunications manufacturers are trying to develop a homegrown "third generation" telecoms standard.
The effort is given weight by the rapid growth of China's domestic market and its emergence as a global manufacturing workshop.
Such strengths are apparent in the drive to promote EVDs, which were developed with the enthusiastic support of the Beijing government and are soon to be approved as a national technical standard.
Beijing E-world, whose chairman is a member of the Chinese Communist party's Central Committee, says its shareholders account for 70-80 per cent of the output of digital video disc players in China and 30 per cent worldwide. E-world says its new standard allows much higher definition video and better sound to be stored on discs that are physically the same as DVDs.
Mr Hao says that the core technology designed for EVDs is better suited to network applications, a key strength given the convergence of video and computer products. They also offer functions such as subtitles that change colour to stand out from their background and - no small benefit in China - space for more karaoke tunes.
Of course, the Chinese are not alone in looking beyond the current DVD format and they can still appear puny matched against rivals such as Sony, Samsung or Philips.
But with rival standards some way from the mass market, Mr Hao thinks EVDs can succeed with the help of a carefully plotted "road map" for the introduction of steadily improved versions.
Crucially, all EVD players will also be able to play DVDs and will cost less than Rmb2,000 ($242). More than 1,000 films are already available in the new format.
Marketing will seek to leverage demand for high-definition televisions. HDTV set sales are growing fast but buyers currently find themselves with little high-definition content to watch.
Yuxing alone expects to sell 200,000 EVD players in the next year, with Mr Hao estimating total sales will climb from 1m in 2004 to 12m in 2006.
EVD's backers hope overseas demand will force international rivals to adopt the standard, giving local companies new leverage in negotiations over foreign-held technology licences.
Beijing E-world corporate investors will use the EVD standard for free, with other Chinese companies expected to pay $1-$2 per player and foreign manufacturers around $4-$5. But detailed rates will vary by company.
"To those that are fierce to us on royalties . . . wewill be the same," says Mr Hao. "If you give me a preferential deal, I'll do the same for you. But if you try to choke me to death then I won't show you any mercy either."
Success is far from guaranteed. A Hong Kong-based sector analyst scoffs at the idea that Chinese companies will sustain the R&D effort and co-operation needed.
But Zhu Jiang, vice-president of Yuxing, argues that even if overseas markets prove difficult, EVD sales in China would provide an important boost for manufacturers that have seen margins on DVD players tumble.
Enhanced Video DIsc::::::::::::::::::::::::::>
The latest sleek silver box built by Chineseelectronics maker Yuxing Infotech looks little different from countless other video disc players stacked under television sets around the world.
This one, however, is special - it plays Enhanced Versatile Discs, or EVDs, a homegrown Chinese standard that will be launched next week and which its corporate backers hope will soon be challenging the DVD for the loyalties of couch potatoes everywhere.
"We can offer a much better audio and visual experience than DVD," says Hao Chieh, president of Beijing E-world Technology, the venture set up by a consortium of Chinese DVD player producers to develop the new standard.
The idea of China as the source of a new electronics format may surprise consumers used to the dominance of US, European and Japanese companies but the EVD push is part of a broad effort by China to play a greater role in shaping global standards.
PC and consumer electronics companies have teamed up to develop a standard for communication between devices such as computers and mobile phones, while local telecommunications manufacturers are trying to develop a homegrown "third generation" telecoms standard.
The effort is given weight by the rapid growth of China's domestic market and its emergence as a global manufacturing workshop.
Such strengths are apparent in the drive to promote EVDs, which were developed with the enthusiastic support of the Beijing government and are soon to be approved as a national technical standard.
Beijing E-world, whose chairman is a member of the Chinese Communist party's Central Committee, says its shareholders account for 70-80 per cent of the output of digital video disc players in China and 30 per cent worldwide. E-world says its new standard allows much higher definition video and better sound to be stored on discs that are physically the same as DVDs.
Mr Hao says that the core technology designed for EVDs is better suited to network applications, a key strength given the convergence of video and computer products. They also offer functions such as subtitles that change colour to stand out from their background and - no small benefit in China - space for more karaoke tunes.
Of course, the Chinese are not alone in looking beyond the current DVD format and they can still appear puny matched against rivals such as Sony, Samsung or Philips.
But with rival standards some way from the mass market, Mr Hao thinks EVDs can succeed with the help of a carefully plotted "road map" for the introduction of steadily improved versions.
Crucially, all EVD players will also be able to play DVDs and will cost less than Rmb2,000 ($242). More than 1,000 films are already available in the new format.
Marketing will seek to leverage demand for high-definition televisions. HDTV set sales are growing fast but buyers currently find themselves with little high-definition content to watch.
Yuxing alone expects to sell 200,000 EVD players in the next year, with Mr Hao estimating total sales will climb from 1m in 2004 to 12m in 2006.
EVD's backers hope overseas demand will force international rivals to adopt the standard, giving local companies new leverage in negotiations over foreign-held technology licences.
Beijing E-world corporate investors will use the EVD standard for free, with other Chinese companies expected to pay $1-$2 per player and foreign manufacturers around $4-$5. But detailed rates will vary by company.
"To those that are fierce to us on royalties . . . wewill be the same," says Mr Hao. "If you give me a preferential deal, I'll do the same for you. But if you try to choke me to death then I won't show you any mercy either."
Success is far from guaranteed. A Hong Kong-based sector analyst scoffs at the idea that Chinese companies will sustain the R&D effort and co-operation needed.
But Zhu Jiang, vice-president of Yuxing, argues that even if overseas markets prove difficult, EVD sales in China would provide an important boost for manufacturers that have seen margins on DVD players tumble.
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