More details on Blu-ray delays - optical drive component shortage
We reported a few months ago that Sony did not think that they could keep up with the Blu-ray demand. That seems apparent now as everyone but Samsung pushed back th launch of their Blu-ray players. The issue seems to be stemming from a tight supply of a key component of the optical drive. Manufacturers are experiencing low yields because of some type of technical issue. There are only two suppliers, Sony and Nichia, and Sony is hording a good amount of 'em for the PS3. This key component is not only for players, but also recorders. This tight supply is not excepted to get better till sometime in September.
Filed under: Industry
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jason @ Jul 10th 2006 11:35AM
It would appear that the PS3 WILL be the death of Blu-Ray... It is nice that they are basically putting the launch of Blu-Ray on hold so they have the drives for their PS3.
Why would ANY other company want to make and sell a Blu-Ray player? I would imagine some of the other manufacturers will be backing out Blu-Ray hardware because of this... since when the PS3 comes out it will be $400 less than any of the other stand alone players... How do you compete with that?
L3 @ Jul 10th 2006 11:47AM
I would NEVER consider buying a game console to be the DVD component in my home theatre. That just seems ridiculous to me.
L3 @ Jul 10th 2006 12:05PM
Or Theater. %)
Jim @ Jul 10th 2006 12:34PM
Sony is shooting themselves in the foot basically. Only die-hard gamers will pony up for the Playstation 3 with it's high cost. Sony is trying to kill 2 birds with one stone, that is get huge market share gains on both Blu-Ray and PS3 in one swoop. It will backfire. I don't know anyone that uses their game console to watch movies, even though it is capable of doing so. Sony is an extremely thick-headed company.
All this is doing is allowing HD-DVD to gain momentum and market share. Blue-Ray as a technology is not ready for prime-time, both the players and media. HD-DVD media is ready (1080p, movie extras, advanced codecs) and the next generation of HD-DVD players should bring the consumer the same experience they have with traditional DVD players.
Tube @ Jul 10th 2006 11:03PM
Sony is walking a dangerous line. If they're holding production of players to accomodate game machines, then they're seriously under estimating those interested in high definition movie playback. By appeasing one group, they're potentially alienating another.
So their target for a high definition player is someone between teen and 30s, who likes to play games, and has between $500-$600 spend? It's not even a question if it's wanted. It's more, this is what you'll have. And by doing so, Sony believes they'll establish their format.
Polt @ Jul 11th 2006 1:02PM
These are the exact same diodes used in HD-DVD drives, btw. Interesting that Sony is one of only two suppliers..I doubt they'd be handing any to HD-DVD customers ;) One can imagine supply is only much tighter for those customers, but then again, there are much fewer of them, with lower volume products.
Mr Ed @ Jul 13th 2006 5:15AM
Sony is not exactly known for offering quality drives in their consoles. Fact is there have been two class action cases brought against Sony for poor quality DVD drives in the PS2. Blu-Ray will be worst still as the DVD is pretty hard to mess up (unless your Sony and absolutely skimp on 2 cent materials). Blu-Ray needs three to four years in prioduction before it could be squeesed into a PS3.
The full size drives released by Sony for press purposes have not work properly, and the Blu-Ray player released by Samsung has not worked properly either. Look at the size of those stand alone drives and ask yourself, how will the cheap plastic drive sitting in the PS3 perform? Expect lots and lots of read errors.