Channeling Stocks

[sludgehound]

Merry Xmas in July DVD+RW $199
Could be hot item that pops retail & electronics?

Holiday depression: DVD-recorder prices to plummet

Matthew Miller, Special Projects Editor -- EDN, 7/7/2004

High prices for DVD recorders have delayed the development of a large VCR-replacement market. But pundits expect that to change this coming holiday season with the arrival of $200 DVD recorders, and Philips intends to be among the companies making the low prices possible.

Market-research firm In-Stat/MDR (a corporate sibling of EDN) believes prices for DVD-burner decks will drop to $199 before the end of this year, making the devices a popular holiday choice.

Philips just announced a reference design, based on its Nexperia chips, for DVD+RW recorders. The design features the company's PNX725x MPEG-2 codec chip set and includes schematics, a bill-of-materials, a software stack, and a development kit. The design allows for differentiation through a customizable remote control and a flexible user interface, Philips says. The company also asserts that the design promotes easy manufacturing because it packages the digital-video technology with a single SDRAM in a small footprint.

Philips doesn't offer much detail to back up its claim of enabling a $199 price point, but the PNX725x chip set sells for less than $20 in volume.
http://www.reed-electronics.com/ednmag/article/CA434395?industryid=22043&nid=2016&rid=127096...