[October 15, 2008] SHARP UNVEILS FLAT-PANEL TVS WITH BUILT-IN BLU-RAY RECORDERS Tweet TOKYO, Oct 16, 2008 (AsiaPulse via COMTEX) -- Sharp Corp. (TSE:6753) announced Wednesday that it will release LCD televisions on November 20 that will be the first in the world to feature built-in Blu-ray Disc recorders. The 16 models in the Aquos DX series will come in six screen sizes ranging from 26 to 52 inches. The low-end set is expected to sell for about 170,000 yen (US$1,708.33), while the top-of-the-line model will go for around 500,000 yen. Sharp aims to boost sales during the year-end shopping season by offering products that cost roughly 50,000 yen less than buying an LCD TV and a Blu-ray recorder separately. Users will be able to record programs directly on Blu-ray Discs, which are inserted from the side of the TV screen. The models will not have hard-disk drives for storing large amounts of data. "We would face price competition if we were to sell TVs that are similar to other manufacturers' models," Sharp president Mikio Katayama said at a news conference. "We'll deal with the expected slump in global consumption through product differentiation." The firm also plans to release LCD TVs with built-in Blu-ray players, not recorders, in North America within the year. These models are to be sold elsewhere, including in Europe and Asia, starting next year. (Nikkei) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]