Independent disc manufacturers association endorses HD DVD
by Richard Lawler 
posted Oct 24th 2006 at 11:31AM
The American Independent Media Manufacturers Association (AIMMA) announced recently it has voted to support HD DVD over Blu-ray. As a group of 37 North American media manufacturing companies, it cited cost and ease of transition from DVD as reasons for the choice. HD DVD has touted its low cost to manufacturers as a main benefit, so this aligns with a major selling point of the format. How important this is to the outcome of the format war remains to be seen; it's good to see HD DVD's assertions confirmed by an outside group, but most consumers --us included -- couldn't name AIMMA if you spotted them an A, I or M. According to Digitimes, Taiwanese disc manufacturers seemed to downplay the decision, saying that the outcome still rests entirely on the support from top Hollywood studios.[Via Digitimes]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dave @ Oct 24th 2006 11:39AM
"HD DVD gets vote of confidence from trade organization, but it is Hollywood studios that hold the power"
Repeat: but it is Hollywood studios that hold the power
Where 7 out of 8 Hollywood studios support Blu-Ray.
Also except Toshiba, no one is making HD DVD players, while everyone is making Blu-Ray players. Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Pioneer... and many more.
mcloki @ Oct 24th 2006 11:51AM
Consumers are the ones that are going to decide this one. And pretty quickly. Once BlueRay hits Nov 17th. It should take about 10 months for the debate to shake out. PS3 sales should spur HDTV adoption. Which in turn will spur BlueRay use and sales. Every PS3 sold is a Blue Ray device from the get go, Every 360 is not. Those numbers are going to rack up pretty fast. HD DVD on the other hand has to outsell everyone else in the market. Beat all of their combined ad sales and get theri message out over the commercials of 7 other movie studios. Just finding enough HD DVD's is going to become a problem. Not to mention old catalogs of films.
Addex @ Oct 24th 2006 12:06PM
Well kick me in the balls and call me Judy.
zombieflanders @ Oct 24th 2006 12:18PM
From the article:
"AIMMA consists of 37 members representing the majority of makers of non-theatrical pre-recorded discs in the North America"
In other words, makers of discs not coming from studios, which are a very tiny minority of releases.
Putter @ Oct 24th 2006 12:22PM
"AIMMA consists of 37 members representing the majority of makers of non-theatrical pre-recorded discs in the North America"
Unless they start releasing actual CONTENT on HD-DVD, they can just shut up; consumers want to see CONTENT, not a letter of support.
pliepl @ Oct 24th 2006 1:03PM
Dave:
Where 7 out of 8 Hollywood studios support Blu-Ray.
Either those 7 studios that support blu-ray release crappy movies or that information is incorrect. The #10 hd dvd movie outsell the #1 blu-ray movie 5:1 on amazon.com (Toshiba hd dvd players outsell Samsung blu-ray players 5:1 all).
The only players thats out are from Toshiba and Samsung, the others you mentioned are still vaporware, PS3 included.
The power is actually held by consumers not Hollywood studios. Not sure if you know this but more and more studios are adding their support for hd dvd (supporting both formats) as time passes. The exclusivity armor of blu-ray is being eroded as more consumers tell studios what they want using what matters to them their money.
Mcloki:
10 months after the PS3 launch is a bit optimistic for the end of this format war. PS3s probably wont be available in sufficient quantities till then.
James @ Oct 24th 2006 5:58PM
If you guys think PS3 is going to lead blu ray to widespread adoption, you're in for a suprise. The target market of PS3 is barely going to be able to afford the console and any games, let alone run out and buy a 1080p TV set. Just look at 360, it supports HD, but only something like 7% of xbox owners have an HDTV. Also, where does your & out of 8 studios figure come from? Last I checked, WB and Paramount were releasing for both (oh, and for HD DVD first in almost all cases, not to mention Smallville coming out for HD DVD only).
mishagray @ Oct 24th 2006 2:29PM
DON'T EXPECT the PS3 to drive MOVIE SALES.
1) The PS3 will be in VERY SHORT SUPPLY for a while. 400K units is WAY TOO SMALL to drive any sort of movie sales.
2) The MAJORITY of PS3 owners will be buying GAMES, not MOVIES. That's what history tells us. I FANTASTIC estimate would be that 25% of PS3 owners buy two movies. Unfortately that's a very small number of buyers (considering the price and availability of the PS3).
ALSO: It's ALWAYS down to money! Not number of disc sales, PROFIT from those sales matter more then number of units sold. Higher disc production costs will IMMEDIATELY mean that the "Break-even" point on HD-DVD sales will be smaller than Blue-Ray discs (The number of discs sold, before you recover your initial manufacturing costs).
PRICE MATTERS. For standalone players (not ps3 or xbox's) I expect HD-DVD players to outsell Blu-Ray players. They are cheaper. It's CLEAR what an HD-DVD player is (It's a DVD player) so there is little consumer confusion. Also, HD-DVD "add-on" players sold next to an HDTV will be more common then blue-ray.
If the HD-DVD player costs me $400 extra, fine, but not $700 extra. It's just the way people think.
And PEOPLE don't perceive how many "studios" are available. They only look at the number of "Titles" they spot on the shelf. HD-DVD is ahead of the game there, and BLue-ray needs to catchup fast.
Now if somebody can just put out an affordable combo player (plays both HD-DVD and blue-ray disks) for less than a $1000, expect that the sell like crazy.
Frosty22 @ Oct 24th 2006 2:38PM
Dave:
And your little PS3 prediction... well that would be fine and dandy if Sony could keep up with demand, but they can't. This holiday, when people are picking up HDTV's and their parents are thinking about getting their kids a new game console... PS3 will be out of stock and the Xbox 360 will be in stock. This holiday will be a major determinant for HDDVD/BluRay and for gaming consoles.
When customers are coming in to Best Buy and such looking for a PS3, do you think the sales persons will say "we are sold out, come back after New Years and we will have one in stock for you then."
Nope, they will say "Won't have ps3 for a while, but Xbox360 is just as good and if you want High Def movies you can also pick up the HDDVD add-on." They will push the products that they have so they can have big sales for the holidays.
pliepl @ Oct 24th 2006 3:29PM
"Now if somebody can just put out an affordable combo player (plays both HD-DVD and blue-ray disks) for less than a $1000, expect that the sell like crazy."
I'm not sure I like that idea myself. I would much rather just have one (affordable) format and be done with it.
mcloki @ Oct 24th 2006 4:28PM
Maybe I'm the first to notice but, 360 should be way past it's supply constraint phase. Do you see huge sales of them. Nope. That's not good. If it was going to beat Sony it would have to by now. There are too many Sony fansboys. As for the the HDDVD it's an add-on. What add-on has sold well in console history? Other than controllers/drive wheels I can't think of anything. Stand alone HD DVD players are few and far between and this Christmas to the disdain of all others will be the clearout Christmas. All those 786 pixel sets, Up converting DVD players, and Monster cabling. Best Buy, Radio Shack, Circuit City and Futureshop have plenty of first gen HDTV's to sell. And any self respecting Sony fan boy knows that only a HDTV that can shop 1080p is going to be good enough.
pliepl @ Oct 24th 2006 5:30PM
"Stand alone HD DVD players are few and far between"
Didn't have a problem finding stand alone players of either formats on amazon.com, walmart.com, circuitcity.com, or compusa.com. bestbuy.com had blu-ray players in stock but are sold out of hddvd players.
Dont forget that there's a shortage of blue lasers (conveniently ones that Sony just happen to manufacturer why does that not surprise me) as supplies are probably being hoarded for PS3 rather than just limited production problems/availability. Both formats use blue lasers.
According to one retailer (amazon) hddvd players outsell blu-ray players 5:1. Could explain the further limited numbers of players in Brick/Mortor stores.
James @ Oct 24th 2006 5:59PM
"And any self respecting Sony fan boy knows that only a HDTV that can shop 1080p is going to be good enough."
Yeah, problem is, I don't know a single "Sony fan boy" who has the money to afford a 720p display, let alone a 1080p. If you ask me, anyone who wanted a console for the HD experience would have bought an xbox360 in the past year. Owning an xbox360 won't stop me from buying a PS3, but having an HD-A1 player does make me lean towards HD DVD (Especially when head to head comparisons of Warner and Paramount films tend to favor HD DVD). Also, with regards to blu ray, I'm still waiting to see which features the ps3 actually supports. It doesn't have DD+ and TrueHD decorders built in with analog outputs, and SPDIF isn't capable of carrying these streams. This leaves HDMI as the only option, and how many 1.3 compliant devices are there right now? Hell, a decent receiver supporting HDMI will run you at least 500 right now (none of which support these newer audio codecs anyhow). Microsoft is pracitcally guaranteed to take the older segment of the market with games like Gears of War and Halo 3. Wii (as disgusting as I find it) will dominate the pre-high school age group with its younger focus and reasonable cost. Sure this leaves PS3 a decent shot at the high school and college crowd, but they're not exactly going to bolster blu ray sales. Combine the price of the PS3, a hi end receiver and speakers, and a 1080p TV set, and you've already alienated every potential buyer who doesn't have a very good income.
Ed @ Oct 24th 2006 6:35PM
How many of the people that posted a pro Blu Ray post actually HAS ONE?????? Just go here and shut up http://www.thedvdwars.com/index.cfm
pliepl @ Oct 24th 2006 7:23PM
"How many of the people that posted a pro Blu Ray post actually HAS ONE?????? Just go here and shut up http://www.thedvdwars.com/index.cfm"
To me it sounds like brand loyality/sony fanboy...at least the posts i've been reading here. none of the points steam from any real thought and always seems to go back to the .... but what about the studio support... or the tired.... but what about ps3... type responses.
BuGG @ Oct 24th 2006 8:50PM
How is 7 out of 8 studios going for blu ray when Warner bros. Universal and Paramount produce hd dvd movies?
marvin @ Oct 25th 2006 6:23AM
Paramount and Warner produce for both formats, while Universal is HD-DVD exclusive. Blu-ray has support from all studios except Universal.
If I were to buy a High Definition player now I 'd go where the content is. I can live with upconverted DVDs from one studio but not from the majority.
pliepl @ Oct 25th 2006 11:15AM
"How is 7 out of 8 studios going for blu ray when Warner bros. Universal and Paramount produce hd dvd movies?"
he's got outdated info. i guess he doesn't realize that some of the studios have already come out to support hddvd (as well as blu-ray). the majority of the studios won't stick with just one format as we're already seeing. they're gonna go where the customers are. there'll be one or two that will remain exclusive till the end but in this war, studio support isn't as relavent as the blu-ray supportors are making it out to be. it'll play a role, just not as the huge one hit KO that everyone in the blu-ray have been saying since the begining. consumers are deciding this war and they vote with their dollars.
Larry @ Oct 25th 2006 4:34PM
mcloki, the Xbox360 is a $300-$400 device that will by the end year sell around six to ten million units. There are not many consumer electronic devices coming in at that price that sell better than that.
Ed @ Oct 29th 2006 11:42AM
Sony is counting the PS3 as a BluRay player, so it seems to me if all Xbox 360 owners buy the $199 HD DVD add on, or the HP HD DVD add on (which I hear is $150-$170) for all of us that have a pc/laptop, so that means that Toshiba can count those in their total shipped HD DVD players as well. Come on XBox 360 and HP owners, UNITE!!!!!!