Original URL: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/11/27/alba_readies_cheap_bd_player/
Are low-cost Blu-ray Disc players coming to Europe in the near future? They are if claims that local consumer electronics company Alba has ordered 4000 players a month from January are to be believed.
Chinese-language newspapers Commercial Times and Economic Daily News today quote the head of Chinese manufacturer Forworld Electronics as saying his firm will be supplying Alba with said number of Blu-ray Players early next year.
Alba releases kit over here under its own name, but also under the Goodmans, Grundig and Bush brands, all pitched between the budget end of the market and the mainstream. That suggests Alba's Blu-ray machine, under whichever brand it's released, is likely to be priced at a rather more affordable level than dedicated BD player have been to date.
Indeed, so far, the most affordable Blu-ray player has been Sony's PlayStation 3 rather than a standalone player.
By contrast, a fair few cut-price HD DVD players are on the market right now, most of them first-generation Toshiba machines like the HD-E1, which can be found online for around £190.
The Venturer SHD7000, launched in Europe last September as the first sub-£200 HD DVD player (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/09/02/ifa_venturer_cheap_hd_dvd/), hasn't yet materialised in the UK, though it is on sale in US Target stores for $249 (£120).
QVC debuts Venturer HD DVD player (29 December 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/12/29/qvc_debuts_venturer_hd_dvd_player/
Budget HD DVD player to include even more free discs (13 December 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/12/13/venturer_free_discs/
Blu-ray widens US disc sales lead (3 December 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/12/03/us_hd_sales/
QVC gets exclusive on Venturer budget HD DVD player (29 November 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/11/29/qvc_gets_venturer_hd_dvd/
US HD DVD player sales pass 750,000 (28 November 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/11/28/us_hddvd_total_rockets/
Blu-ray discs outsell HD DVDs almost 3:1 in Europe (27 November 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/11/27/euro_bd_hddvd_sales_stats/
Blu-ray dominates Japanese HD recorder sales (23 November 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/11/23/bd_dominates_japan_hd_r_sales/
Tosh to tempt laptop buyers with free HD DVDs (21 November 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/11/21/toshiba_hd_dvd_offer/
Warner puts 'Glu-ray' disc on hold - again (20 November 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/11/20/warner_puts_total_hd_on_hold/
Euro HD DVD camp clams up on format sales figures (14 November 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/11/14/euro_hddvd_sales_challenge/
Cheap PS3 won't help Blu-ray, claim HD DVD backers (8 October 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/10/08/cheap_ps3_wont_help_bluray/