Blu-ray has 70% of 1st qtr sales?
- Thread starter Random Digital
- Start date
Silent_Buddha
Legend
Aye and neither format has a chance in hell of winning until it can compete with a regular DVD on price.
Otherwise both may end up as the next Laserdisc.
Regards,
SB
Otherwise both may end up as the next Laserdisc.
Regards,
SB
Price is important. Yes.
... but other factors can weigh in too. The cheap players enjoyed some sales hump but did not turn the tide. About 2 weeks later, Sony reacted by dropping their player price too so we can't really see the full effect of the Toshiba price drop.
Some recent articles:
* "Blu-ray (61%) vs HD DVD (39%)" (as of June 3)
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom061007/index.php
* "Digital Hollywood Confab Speakers Say High-Def Inevitable"
http://homemediaretailing.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?sec_id=2&&article_ID=10757
* "HD DVD players thrashing Blu-ray in the US"
http://www.tech.co.uk/home-entertai...rashing-blu-ray-in-the-us?articleid=874044456
* "Toshiba lowers sales target for HD DVD players"
http://www.reuters.com/article/technology-media-telco-SP/idUST16250120070612
* "Wal-Mart Expounds On CE Strategy"
http://www.twice.com/article/CA6450174.html
* "Sony May Hike Blu-ray Shipments by 600 Percent"
http://www.tvpredictions.com/sonyblu061207.htm
* "Global demand for blue-laser ODDs expected to rise to 52 million units in 2008"
http://www.digitimes.com/systems/a20070606PD216.html
"Blu-ray BD-J Review"
* http://www.blueboard.com/bluray/movie_review_potc2.htm
I think since you seem pretty biased toward Bluray, you are overlooking the significance of price. Price is arguably much more important than any other factor. PS3 can do many more things than a Wii can do, but which console sells 500,000+ systems a month and which sells 82,000 systems a month? If HD DVD can get to the sub-$200 range and Bluray is still stuck at the $500 range by this Holiday season, I would imagine HD DVD would sell a lot more regardless of "other factors".
Either way, I'm personally waiting for that dual format Samsung player to come down in price.
Either way, I'm personally waiting for that dual format Samsung player to come down in price.
I think since you seem pretty biased toward Bluray, you are overlooking the significance of price. Price is arguably much more important than any other factor. PS3 can do many more things than a Wii can do, but which console sells 500,000+ systems a month and which sells 82,000 systems a month? If HD DVD can get to the sub-$200 range and Bluray is still stuck at the $500 range by this Holiday season, I would imagine HD DVD would sell a lot more regardless of "other factors".
Either way, I'm personally waiting for that dual format Samsung player to come down in price.
Price is important but other factors may weigh in also.
US$299 HD DVD player are already here today (http://www.nextag.com/Toshiba-HD-A2-HD-519701771/prices-html). I was told some of them come with 5 free HD DVD discs. Blu-ray players are coming down too.
Consumers don't necessarily look at price alone (e.g., Look at your own car, house, PC, hifi purchase decisions). The same argument would apply to PS3. The current sales number may be affected by price plus something else (e.g., not enough software).
By the way, the list of links are collated from my regular internet surf. I did not screen them.
EDIT: Fixed link
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This will be interesting to watch as HD-DVD players which are already outselling their Blu Ray by a decent margin get cheaper and into the price range of more consumers. At what point does HD-DVD close the margins on movie shipments on a monthly basis with Blu Ray? Unless BluRay players close the gap in shipments it is only a matter of time until the larger user base's inertia overtakes BluRay.
Should be interesting and battlefield better understoof post holiday season 07 I think.
Should be interesting and battlefield better understoof post holiday season 07 I think.
I don't think you're going to see anything clarified for at least another year after that. They need a lot more titles, they need the price on those titles to come down a lot and they need available player prices reaching below $100. Until then they are never going to surpass a few % of sales.
This will kill HD-DVD.
I remember a store around here that used to only carry betamax.
I expect the rental market right now for HD is a small portion of a very small market. Blockbusters support won't change anything and if there is consumer demand for HD-DVD they'll go back on their intentions in a heartbeat.
Are you counting all HD players or just non-games capable HD players? The Bluray sales and rental figures indicate you should be counting all HD players.
The cost of Bluray players and media should be comparable to HD-DVD players once manufacturing gets into full swing. I suspect initial HD-DVD dedicated player costs are low due to Toshiba subsidies just as PS3 costs are lower than they should be due to Sony subsidies. Dedicated Blueray player costs may also be high due at the moment due to the PS3 monopolising components which are in short supply. Certainly Bluray player manufacturers other than Sony don't seem to be too agressive at selling B luray players at this stage.
It isn't how many disks are sold, it is the perception of future support. When somebody buys a not too cheap piece of kit like an HD player, and a movie collection to go with it, they want to make sure that they aren't buying something that will turn into an expensive doorstop. That is why apart from AV enthusiasts, few people are buying HD players, and that is why Bluray players (which are not primarily purchased as HD players) dominate HD media sales.
To the potential buyer, HD-DVD support and future doesn't look good. Only one out of the big six doesn't do Bluray whereas three out of six don't do HD-DVD. Toshiba is the only big brand name CE manufacturer which supports HD-DVD whereas the all the rest support Bluray. Now add the fact that Blockbuster is discontinuing HD-DVD support, and non-AV enthusiasts will be reluctant to commit to HD-DVD.
Incidentally this is the same thing that killed off Betamax - The only big name manufacturer that supported Betamax was Sony - all the others manufactured VHS. When the video rentals dropped Betamax, that was the end for Betamax, apart from professional portable video recording applications where the superior technical specifications of Betamax proved it's worth.
HD isn't a big enough market for most people to even notice it. If this was 3 years down the road from now when HD players were in the sub $100 area and and making up a significant portion of movie sales (10% or so, rather than the 1% its at now) then support from blockbuster might mean something.
The HD market fight will be about price and its far from over because of anything blockbuster might do.
And as I said before blockbuster supporting blu-ray now, only means they are supporting blu-ray now. Video rental stores are more a victim of the format war than a participant and ultimately they'll move where their customers want them if demand is significant.
Yes its good news for blu-ray, but its hardly anything to declare victory over.
It's interesting to note that content seems to have played a very important role over price in this decision.
I wonder if the Blu-ray only releases of the final Pirates of the Caribbean (At World's End) and Spider-Man 3 will be another nail in the coffin of HD-DVD...
Personally, i want this war to be over, one way or another.
The high definition disc market is only growing so slowly because of this consumer confusion, and the fact that many of them see little to no visual benefit of either format over the good old DVD-Video is another major obstacle to overcome. At least with a single, clear standard, the marketing message could be more directed and objective ("see, this is the one after the DVD, just like the DVD was the one after the CD and VHS").
HDTV adoption is slow as well, a lot of people dont seem to want to remember that theres plenty of people out there who are use to owning a TV for 10-20 years or more before they replace it. Not this "5 years and you're sooo obsolete" crap.
Cant market the media too well when people cant benefit from it. As i and a few others have said before as well, this is why DVD will continue to dominate for years to come. You can buy a cheap(er) DVD player and cheaper DVD movies and watch them without issue on a 25 year old TV. With HD media you're usually pressured into feeling like you need a whole new entertainment center, complete with 7.1 wall mounted speakers and new couches with popcorn holders. Its going to be hard to sell this new idea of home entertainment to average people who have bills to pay, at least at these prices. They need to drop significantly. Then and only then you can talk about what media to buy.
Onkyo. I'm surprised you've heard of Kenwood and not Onkyo. Of course I don't consider Onkyo "major" as in a house hold name, same with Kenwood.