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Pioneer is developing Blu-ray recorders with help from Sharp, Pioneer's top shareholder with a 14 per cent stake, the report said.

Pioneer plans to start selling Blu-ray recorders in Japan before the year-end shopping season, followed by overseas launches. Blu-ray recorder demand in Japan is likely to jump 18 fold to 3.6 million units by 2012, according to Fuji Chimera Research Institute.