Blue-Ray not until summer and at 1800$

[Inane_Dork]

Whether PS3 production costs will suffer or not, I don't know.

What I do know is that Sony will either
A) cannibalize everyone's BR player sales
or
B) cannibalize PS3 sales.

I suspect it'll be A) and they'll talk about it as investment or building user base or some such positive spin. I'm really in the dark as to why anyone's making BR players. They must think PS3 BR playback is somehow crippled to even offer models that cost more than the PS3.

 

[c0_re]

This news is old and wrong. The first player will be a Samsung, due in April, not the $1800 pioneer. A lot of news agencies took it that because Sony announced their players weren't coming till Summer, that nobody else could be coming any earlier, which is incorrect.

funny thats all anyone had to say and I would have closed this topic, because that was the feeling I got right away after read the article.

 

[scooby_dooby]

Whether PS3 production costs will suffer or not, I don't know.

What I do know is that Sony will either
A) cannibalize everyone's BR player sales
or
B) cannibalize PS3 sales.

I suspect it'll be A) and they'll talk about it as investment or building user base or some such positive spin. I'm really in the dark as to why anyone's making BR players. They must think PS3 BR playback is somehow crippled to even offer models that cost more than the PS3.

Hard to say without knowing what the BR pricepoints will be in fall 06, and without knowing the PS3 launch price.

If PS3 launches at $500, and BR players have dropped to $700 or so, there won't be such a problem with cannabalizing sales.

 

[c0_re]

What is the major cost factor driving up the cost of the players? I mean it has to me more than the laser and the lens, if toshiba is using the same laser different lens\capture ect?

 

[Mr. Hanky]

...because they have projected there is a market at that price (people will buy at that price).

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I personaly think these #'s are BS if Toshiba can come out with a 500$ player I bet Sony can with 2-6 monthes of the PS3 release.

Sony's entry level BRD player is likely to cost $400-500 and launch in the Spring. It also comes with a free games console built in

 

[patsu]

...because they have projected there is a market at that price (people will buy at that price).

Yes, this would be the most reasonable answer given the current announcements. I know people who would pay USD100,000 for 1 speaker (not even a pair). They will pay extra to get incremental performances, or actually just for the prestige.

My guess is Pioneer is also serving/protecting their usual Elite customers. They already projected that they will not sell a lot of these.

 

[expletive]

You don't seriously believe a BR drive's going to cost anywhere close to $1800 to manufacture, do you?

For THIS particular player, it could cost relatively the same as a $1000 player to manufacture becuase it will likely use higher end components. I know that wasnt the spirit of the thread,but just to answer your question...

 

[Frank]

Philips has said about a year ago that they would offer a complete player/writer for something like $400 around now to consumers. Samsung (or Sanyo?) said about half a year ago, that they would sell an optic head with electronics for about $35 to producers. At the moment, both seem to be happy with just producing those parts for an unspecified price for the large producers. And Sony is busy making their own ones.

I would be willing to wager, that a complete player as included in the PS3 isn't more than about $50 bucks to buy for those guys. But the large investmenst in R&D make them offer the first models to the enthousiasts, who they figure are willing to pay up to about $2000 for such a player.

When the mass producing starts, the price will drop to whatever will sell them the most units for the highest price they can get. And keep on dropping from that moment on.

 

[c0_re]

When the mass producing starts, the price will drop to whatever will sell them the most units for the highest price they can get. And keep on dropping from that moment on.

Anyone willing to make bets on when this is going to happen?

 

[rabidrabbit]

There are already many DVD players costing $1800 and upwards, and some people are buying them instead of the $200 players, although there are essentially no extra functions in the expensive players over the cheap ones.
In fact, I believe an approximately $1000 DVD player is often chosen over a cheap one by ht-enthusiast.
Why?
Some people just want the high-end, and there is a large market for high end players, and the $1800 Blu-ray players are considered high-end for high-end markets. Also, these more expensive players are not just good video players, they are also decent at playing plain audio CD's, which the cheaper ones usually leave a lot to be desired.
PS3 will not be a high-end player, and thus targeted at a different market.

 

[blakjedi]

There are already many DVD players costing $1800 and upwards, and some people are buying them instead of the $200 players, although there are essentially no extra functions in the expensive players over the cheap ones.
In fact, I believe an approximately $1000 DVD player is often chosen over a cheap one by ht-enthusiast.
Why?
Some people just want the high-end, and there is a large market for high end players, and the $1800 Blu-ray players are considered high-end for high-end markets. Also, these more expensive players are not just good video players, they are also decent at playing plain audio CD's, which the cheaper ones usually leave a lot to be desired.
PS3 will not be a high-end player, and thus targeted at a different market.

What defines a player as being high -end technically as opposed to by price. A BR player with an eight core processor, dual dvi outs, ethernet and wifi seems pretty high end to me.

 

[avaya]

What defines a player as being high -end technically as opposed to by price. A BR player with an eight core processor, dual dvi outs, ethernet and wifi seems pretty high end to me.

Quality of the DAC, software, quiet (and faster) drive, build quality, materials and a lot of other things. Of course none of these things justify the insane price they'll charge but people will still buy them.

 

[Inane_Dork]

Hard to say without knowing what the BR pricepoints will be in fall 06, and without knowing the PS3 launch price.

If PS3 launches at $500, and BR players have dropped to $700 or so, there won't be such a problem with cannabalizing sales.

Ah, but you already miss the point. Everyone knows that Sony will have a (comparitively) cheap BR player and popular game console in the PS3. Everyone who matters, anyway. So if the prices are like your proposed case, I could easily say that the standalone prices were made in reaction to the PS3 price. And that, of course, would be cutting profit significantly. It would be a cut in profit per unit instead of sales numbers, but the effect is the same.

The only way to prove that the standalone prices are not made in response to the PS3 price is if standalone prices are a good deal above the PS3. And that is exactly the situation I referenced earlier.

Something is getting lost any way you cut it. I just don't understand those who make BR players, since they get the shaft in every scenario except for the one in which PS3 BR playback is crippled.

 

[scooby_dooby]

So if the prices are like your proposed case, I could easily say that the standalone prices were made in reaction to the PS3 price. And that, of course, would be cutting profit significantly. It would be a cut in profit per unit instead of sales numbers, but the effect is the same.

No you could only say that is there wasn't a competitor called HD-DVD, and we weren't in teh midst of a format war.

If we do see BR players dropped that low, the most logical explanation would be that it was in response to HD-DVD's lower pricepoint(which will continue to dropas the year goes on), rather than fear of PS3 cannabalizing the sales.

BR manufacturers who have invested money in R&D have much more to lose if BR loses the format war, than if Sony cannablizes the first 6-12 months of sales. So any drop in pricing would have to be attributed to winning the format war, and not in a response to the PS3.

 

[Edge]

I thought we had a monster size thread on this, and it's being debated all over again?

 

[Serenity Painted Death]

Well, for one, the only HD-DVD player at that low price doesn't have 1080p functionality (not sure many will care, but only early adopters are going to buy at these prices anyway, and they will be more inclined to care about something like that). Only one blu-ray model was shown off for 1800. The others were more around 1200, and the fully functional HD-DVD players were at 1000. Not a huge difference. PS3 is going to be the cheapest one of all, anyway, so this entire discussion is honestly moot.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

BluRay versus HDDVD - The topic that never dies

(and yet has virtually no relevance to console discussion. Honestly, what has the price of movie players got to do with consoles? Apart from the ocassional relevant 'will HDDVD on XB360 mean HDDVD based games' these threads are misplaced.)

 

[TrungGap]

...because they have projected there is a market at that price (people will buy at that price).

Quality of the DAC, software, quiet (and faster) drive, build quality, materials and a lot of other things such as style and looks.

Ding, ding, ding...the two of you are absolutely right! Avaya, I added the part in bold.
And Sony knows this. They have no problem introducing two products for two different market segments. I don't see them having a problem selling to both market segments. Look at Vodka, it suppose to be tasteless, colorless alcohol. Most people can't tell difference between a different brands. So what allows one brand command a premium price over the others? You know...it's the same strategy that Sony has been using over the years to sell $80 dvd players and $1000 dvd players.

Of course none of these things justify the insane price they'll charge but people will still buy them.

Children's breakfast cereal is another good example of the insane price people are willing to pay from something that's really dirty cheap to make.

 

[dodo3]

Why are you comparing a higher quality Blu-ray media player to the lowest quality HD-DVD media player? :|