China's CBHD vendors are expected to face stiff domestic competition from Blu-Ray discs after Philips' launch of a $293 BD player in China, Digitimes reports. Despite initial optimism, the Chinese format, distributed by Shinco and TCL, hasn't been meeting with strong adoption.

China Blue High Definition, China's home-grown Blu-Ray alternative, harnesses technology adapted from HD-DVD to produce high definition discs at lower cost. CBHD discs can retail in China for as little as $7.50, compared to upwards of $30 for Blu-Ray discs. Players are also cheaper, but only one major Hollywood studio, Warner Brothers, has agreed to license movies to the new format.

With a new, cheaper BD player launching in China, it seems increasingly likely that CBHD will follow the same course as HD-DVD, and fail to attain relevance even inside China. When CBHD was announced last year, it was already clear it faced an uphill battle. It's hard to avoid expressing some sympathy for the plucky Chinese format, but equally hard to envision a successful future for it.