Late last month, we actually posed the
question of buying a Blu-ray player now (being that the format war is over and all), or waiting things out until prices sink and
Profile 2.0 players flood the market. Aside from the
PlayStation 3 -- which is actually priced fairly reasonably if you were in the hunt for a new console anyway -- it seems as though HD DVD's exit has actually caused Blu-ray player prices to creep back upwards. Granted, this is about as far from surprising as it gets -- after all, it's nothing short of supply and demand working its magic. Still, it wasn't too long ago that we saw Toshiba
actively putting pressure on the Blu camp to reduce prices in order to stay competitive, and now that said pressure has vanished, stickers on the whole have headed north. Ah well, it's not like the consumer didn't ask for this, um,
right?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
north @ Mar 12th 2008 9:58PM
Think your reading too much into it. The prices had increased at the beginning of the year too while the whole thing was still going on. There's probably just no sale going right now.
Nfinity @ Mar 12th 2008 10:07PM
There's nothing to read into.. Every logical person who supported interest of consumers through HD DVD who gave more, said that this would happen. It's common sense.
We all knew BDA plans. Kill HD DVD as fast as possible through payoffs and backroom deals, so they can milk everyone. It's clear, all CE companies that are members of BDA will not lower prices. They are a cartel like group now that will set aside their real competition for a few years so they can bank in on the forced standard.
If Profile 1.0 players are this high, how long do you think it will take them to lower of the actual 1.0 and 2.0 players?
This is what back room deals do. They pay for ultimatums in the market so the consumer can be milked.
What did you think it will happen? Competition? LOL.
Shack @ Mar 13th 2008 11:27AM
Nfinity,
Don't be ridiculous. Do you honestly think Toshiba was planning on sustaining a business that lost almost $1B in 2007? You think if HD DVD had won the prices would not have come up at all? If you answered yes to any of these questions you are a complete moron with the logical abilities equal to that of a spoon.
I suppose in your little world, if HD DVD had won, Toshiba would have sent everyone in the world a free player. They would continue taking those losses just so we could all be happy and enjoy high def movies at home.
Wake up and welcome to the real world buddy. It's time to understand how it works here. It's time to quit bemoaning the loss of your preferred format.
I'm sick and tired of your silly posts.
Nfinity @ Mar 14th 2008 12:29PM
Shack,
Of course HD DVD players wouldn't go up. The reason they wouldn't go up is because their MSRP went down officially. BDA is doing this because they kept the MSRP prices at high but lowered sales prices. So now they lifted the prices back to MSRP.
The reason why Toshiba wouldn't have raised prices is because they had completely different business model. They would be one of the major license carriers for HD DVD royalties and having razor/blades model was always the their intent. HD DVD since the very beginning was cheap even the first model that came out was $499.
The BDA cartel is just doing what we all knew they wanted. They all agreed on the minimum price they won't go below and they are giving Sony a pass with PS3 because Sony ponied up all the cashola for the backroom deals and lost billions on PS3.
If you think that you will see $200 Profile 1.1 or Profile 2.0 player by end of 2009 you are clearly very very naive.
I don't really care anymore but the strategies of each camp were very clear from the beginning. BDA was greedy for software and hardware sales in addition to licensing, while Toshiba went with razor/blades model where they were willingly losing money on hardware to populate the market so they could recoup on royalties.
We won't even go into the fact which one of the two gave you as a consumer better value regardless of whether they lost money or not.
JVirg1 @ Mar 12th 2008 10:03PM
Yeah, the consumers had anything to do with ending the format war.
Anyhow, big surprise.
Mike @ Mar 12th 2008 10:08PM
Maybe Toshiba can use this as a reason to come back...the low prices on existing HD DVD stock has pumped the market...come back with a HD DVD A4 for $149 and let the games begin.
LordZargon @ Mar 13th 2008 7:04AM
Uhm... with what movies?
worldbfree4me @ Mar 12th 2008 10:09PM
This was Sony's Plan from the start..Crush the competition and raise the prices to increase revenues and profit margins at the expense of guess who? Me and you my friends, HD and Blu Ray could have and should have co-existed to keep competion thriving. See, PS3, XBOX360 any Wii..Hope you Blu Ray Fan Boys and Girls are Happy!!!
north @ Mar 12th 2008 10:27PM
Sony? You mean the BDA? Sony is just the talking head of the body.
chestnu1 @ Mar 12th 2008 10:15PM
Fine until the price on a player come down I am not buying one. There loss.
Mike @ Mar 12th 2008 10:26PM
And don't forget how BD wants to keep China out of competition as well. If it wasn't for the xbox 360 keeping the ps3 below cost...the options would be terrible.
Mike @ Mar 12th 2008 10:28PM
They don't loose anything...we the consumer do.
Our loss... we should be enjoying HD movies a lot sooner then Christmas 2009
regeya @ Mar 12th 2008 10:56PM
Bah; they're losing, all right. With mainstream press terrorizing people about the looming recession that's been here for nearly three months now (yeah you read that right) that will last all of 6 months but be the worst recession in American history and will have minimum impact yet drop the entire world into a deep recession (yeah I know those contradict) it's time for consumers to tighten their belts and get spending.
I know there's contradiction there. All you have to do is pay attention to major American news outlets to get all that. It's no wonder nobody wants to do anything; the impression is that nobody knows what the frick is going on, and all we know is that banks are doing forced selling to recoup from their bad debt, and buying into energy futures, and anything the Fed does causes further drops in most stocks but rises in energy. Not even reality has affected energy futures, as (surprise!) demand has started to go down.
In short, I hate election years.
And really, all I can do as a private citizen is gripe at my elected officials and wait. If I pull my money out of the bank, and a substantial number of people do it, the banks fail and our money is worthless. If the banks fail and my money's in it, my money's worthless. And every major outlet, including the Wall Street Journal, is screaming at me that the banks will definitely fail. Yeah...some of these same guys probably also thought the tech gravy train and the housing gravy train would never end, so take it with a Texas-sized grain of salt...but do you really think that, in that climate, and with people struggling to pay bills already, that Blu-Ray players and HDTVs are a priority? Only to fools.
Back on task, yeah, I think the BDA is only cutting their own throats by freezing out Chinese manufacturers and by keeping prices high. This is looking to be another DVD-A vs. SACD war...oh well, at least DVDs don't look too bad on my HD-A3. Hopefully it'll hold up a couple of years, eh? ;-)
John B @ Mar 12th 2008 10:38PM
But ... are these prices being set by Sony/BDA or are these being set by the retailers? If we're going to start another fruitless wave of the blame game, let's at least make sure that we're blaming the right people.
WebDev511 @ Mar 12th 2008 11:02PM
Wow, big surprise. Raise prices on soon to be obsolete players. If target weren't doing a BOGO next weekend, I'd chime in about disc prices too, but they too the wind out of my sails for that one.
With a recession looming in the world's largest consumer market, one might wonder if Blu might actually be worse off now that it has to stand on its own laurels.
hugh go @ Mar 12th 2008 11:33PM
There are two truths about the recently-ended HD format war that most HD-DVD fanboys either don't understand or simply choose to ignore:
1) COMPETITION lowers prices. I'm not talking about HDDVD vs. Blu ray "format war" competion, I'm talking about competetion between equipment manufactures. Do you honestly believe that Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, LG, etc, etc are in collusion to "fix" Blu ray prices? Don't kid yourself. These companies are already competing on price and will continue to do so.
HD DVD had -zero- vendor competition because Toshiba was the sole vendor.
But wait, what's that you say??? HD DVD was sooo much cheaper! It was the "consumer-friendly" format!! It had lower disc production costs, lower player costs!! Why why WHY are Blu ray players so over-priced compared to HD DVD players??
Do you want the truth? (You can't handle the truth! ;-))
Here it comes...
2) Blu ray is NOT over-priced given its development costs and relatively short time on the market. The fact is that HD DVD was priced unrealistically low because it was being subsidized at a HUGE loss by Toshiba. As the sole vendor Toshiba could price their hardware however they chose, and they chose to price it far below development and manufacturing costs in an attempt to perpetuate the lie that the HD DVD format was inherently less expensive than Blu ray.
Why do you think there weren't any other HD DVD players from other vendors? No OEM in their right mind would try to undercut Toshiba's pricing becuase it would have been financial suicide.
Don't believe me? Go read the article right above this one ("Toshiba swallows a billion dollars on HD DVD") Actually, if you read the Reuters article, it's really 1/2 billion lost on hardware sales in 2007 and another estimated 1/2 billion to convert all their manufacturing plants to something other than HD DVD in 2008.
But the fact is Toshiba LOST 1/2 billion dollars on all the HD DVD player hardware sold in 2007. Why? Because they intentionally priced them far below cost to "prove" that they were the consumer-friendly, low-cost option to Blu ray.
Toshiba lied. HD DVD in reality was no less expensive to design and manufacture than Blu ray. And now that they the world has called their bluff they're left with a 1/2 billion hole in their corporate pockets.
Oh well...
aplen22 @ Mar 13th 2008 1:49AM
"Do you honestly believe that Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, LG, etc, etc are in collusion to "fix" Blu ray prices?"
No offense buddy but Panasonic was caught last year fixing prices with competitors to keep prices on TVs higher to still turn a profit. This is not a new trick in the business books. And considering that new cheaper Blu-Ray diodes are supposed to be hitting the market soon, I'm still waiting for that "price drop" you keep preaching about.
Sean L @ Mar 13th 2008 8:26AM
Not to mention that the BDA is preventing the cheaper Chinese manufacturers from coming into market and driving the cost of the units down through "competition". You cannot sit there and say that the BDA is not price fixing the market, it is laughable to even attempt to state something like that.
The members of the BDA that make hardware are blocking the BDA from liscensing the tech to cheap manufacturers to keep the prices high.
DrXym @ Mar 13th 2008 7:38PM
Exactly. Toshiba had very few weapons to fight against blu ray. After all, blu ray had widespread industry support and was clearly the most likely format to succeed. All they could do is keep slashing and slashing their prices and hope that it would turn the tide. It didn't. Some people are too dumb to appreciate that HD DVD players were "cheap" because they were subsidized.
Anyway prices of Blu Ray players will drop over time. That's what happens as a market grows and firms compete against each other. Why it may have risen slightly could easily be chalked up to a combination of exchange rates, increased consumer demand and the end of winter sales.
MegaZone @ Mar 12th 2008 11:59PM
1. Anyone who said 'Sony' - put on your dunce cap and go sit in the corner. Anyone who two neurons to bang together knows Blu-ray is not a Sony spec (estimates are Sony holds only about 30% of the IP in Blu-ray). And Sony doesn't control other vendor's pricing.
2. MSRPs have not been raised. And it is doubtful wholesale prices have been either. In fact, this is almost certainly stock that the retailers already had on hand. So what this is is the *retailers* doing more profit taking. They're just not discounting off the MSRP as steeply, so they've making more margin on the sale.
3. This is a table of *average* prices. So just suppose more vendors started carrying Blu-ray players after the format war ended, and the new sites didn't discount as much? Well, gee, the average price goes up! But that doesn't mean the old low prices are gone. Two sites sell a product, one for $400 and one for $200. The average price is $300. Two more sites start selling it, for $325. Now you're average price is $312.50 - it went up! But you can still buy it for $200.
In other words you can't really conclude anything from this, and you most definitely cannot blame Sony for whatever conclusion you jump to.
Mr. E @ Mar 13th 2008 9:00AM
Excellent points all. Let me just add that DVD prices dropped without ANY competition (except the EXACT SAME competition that Blu-ray manufacturers currently have). In addition, a whole slew of Blu-ray catalog titles have dropped $5 in MSRP recently. I'd post the list, but it's actually too long to put here. Go check it out for yourselves!
mntwister @ Mar 13th 2008 12:01AM
For those of you blaming Sony, you are just showing your inept intelligence. Gee, I see only one Sony player on the list, are all the others taking orders from Sony? I think not.
JBDragon @ Mar 13th 2008 12:09AM
Blu-Ray sucks, I hope it ends up dieing in the end. I knew prices were going to go up. The #1 reason for the new HD format released was DRM, next to get prices back up and make more money. DVD players are so cheap these days they aren't making all that much on them, and movies are being sold at bargain basement prices also. Even at these low prices, sales have been dropping, they need something new in the hope of increasing sales once again. To get people to buy their movies all over once again, just now in HD. I just see several flaws to their plans. I hope and think Blu-Ray won't be any more successful then SACD or DVD Audio.
I could go into how MP3's are good enough for most people over better sounding Music, just like DVD is good enough for most people over Blu-Ray.
I could go into how SACD and DVD Audio is DRM infested, so you can't rip them to put on your ipod or whatever, so then your having to buy a CD or just download it. Same with DVD over Blu-Ray. I can pretty much do what I want with a DVD.
I can play my CD's just about anywhere I want. I sure can't with SACD or DVD Audio. SO I can buy one of those for HOME use and then a CD for car use or to RIP? Same with Blu-Ray. There's DVD players everywhere including the CAR, Portables, many rooms of your house. Blu-Ray, you have your one home player. Maybe 2 if you really want to spend lots of money. Nothing for your Car, or a Portable player, though that's kind of overkill on such a small screen, but at least you wouldn't also have to buy a DVD copy to play the same movie other ways.
DVD Players and DVD Movies are CHEAP! You can buy them NEW for under $10 unless it's a brand new release, and hell used for a couple bucks. Blu-Ray? $400 to start if you want a PS3, which doesn't have a stinking IR port(Pretty dumb Sony) Movies around $24 or more each unless you get a deal. With the way the Economy is at this time and it's not going to get any better this year, who has that kind of money to spend on a HD Player will all it's restrictions/Limitations, to get a bit better picture and sound? A Upscaling DVD player on a HDTV looks pretty darn good for the majority of people out there. That's how I see it.
Some of you can keep your blinders on and think Blu-Ray is going to be a huge seller, but at it's current prices, and foolish raising them, it's going to fail at the end. I'm now perfectly happy to buy DVD's only and watch downloaded HD moves on LIVE for something I want to see once and in HD. It's far, far, far, cheaper. You can be a FREE Silver LIVE account and still get all the HD movies to watch you want. Comcast has it's HD PPV, and HD On Demand, and there's other hardware devices also. I would never BUY a DRM downloaded Movie, just rent it to watch once. If I really liked it, then get it on DVD.
nfooji @ Mar 13th 2008 12:10AM
How about giving some credit to Tom's Hardware since this is where this article and data came from? At least change the graphics!
http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/03/12/blu_ray_player_prices_hit_2008_highs_as_competition_dwindles/
P.S. I'm the one who sent you guys the link a few hours ago...
Patrick @ Mar 13th 2008 2:43AM
Not just players, but movies. Most of Amazon's Blu-ray movies are several dollars more than they were a few months ago (A Few Good Men, The Rock, Crimson Tide, etc.).
Evan @ Mar 13th 2008 4:40AM
If you didn't see this coming... well you've had your eyes shut for a while.
I know HD DVD is dead, but I don't mind buying them for 12-15 bucks, and getting Planet Earth for 30. It will last me long enough until maybe they do actually drop the price on something.
I still have my fingers crossed for a BD add-on on the 360 too.
GhostDoggy @ Mar 13th 2008 4:47AM
While I did suspect that this would happen, I wouldn't believe this would be the case as of yet. I think it is natural for the retail market to keep prices high during Tax Return season. People have sudden money back and why not high-ball them?
XDragon @ Mar 13th 2008 7:02AM
How about the fact that the PS3, one of the best Blu players if not the best because it can be upgraded to 2.0 and play PS3 games at no extra price, is the same price and will only get cheaper to comete with the 360? Pretty narrow sighted people! No to mention that its possible that retailers are charging more, not the manufacturers since theres no clear statement to why the price increased other than lack of a competing hd format. I think E-HD is just trying to word things to make fights break out and get lots of hits just from us.
Truth Teller @ Mar 13th 2008 7:17AM
Still no sign of a proper range of supposedly final spec (even tho it isn't, profile 2.1 & 3.0 are on the way) Blu-ray players and the prices are going up on their sub-spec players and media.
LMAO
Imagine my surprise.
The high-margin niche market is well on the way to being set up.
I just hope all you Blu-fans really do a fine job gritting your teeth and pretending you love it.
The BDA are such cretins they think they can fence off high def and (at your huge expense) make it 'pirate-proof'.
The one way to ensure HDMs on disc fail to go mass-market is to pursue the course they are on.
Idiots.
The PS3 as 'the best Blu-ray player' for 3yrs and counting of BD's 'life'.
It would be utterly hilarious if it wasn't so sad.
The really funny bit is that Blu-ray also lost the format war, it just hasn't realised it yet & fallen over.
SD DVD will not be being replaced by Blu-ray.
Blake @ Mar 13th 2008 8:23AM
Copy & Paste again!
You fail!
800lb Droll @ Mar 13th 2008 8:41AM
Oh dear! Truth Teller and his drug induced outlook on things! Do you drool when you type this crap?
Profile 2.1 and 3.0?!? Been reading disgruntled HD-DVD doomsayer blogs again have we? LOL! The only thing that was niche was HD-DVD!
I'm sure you'll be buying into super upconversion after being suckered in by the Toshiba hype and spin! Or how about DVD 2.0?!? But then again that is another profile and would go against your principles! LMAO!
Yes you will hear it here first......Truth Teller offically SUC'S!
Truth Teller @ Mar 13th 2008 12:37PM
No 800lb Droll, I haven't 'cut n pasted' anyone else's work.....tho it's not exactly hard to work out what's been going on and what's coming as far as this Blu-ray stitch-up goes.
You guys just cant bear the idea that you too chose a format with no real 'legs'
(and this time it'll be the actual & genuine mass-market giving Blu-ray the cold shoulder, not a cash-fuelled back-room industry stitch-up).
But I see you're only to happy - without a shred of embarrassment or irony - to crib that weak "SUC" idiocy.
Super Upconversion (if it lives up to expectations regarding performance & cost) will be a big seller whatever happens.
The fact that it works with everyone's regular SD DVD collections guarantees that
(providing the cost is low & the performance exceeds upscaling as it promises to).
See the demo here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1qxa1zv5uI
But suck it up, I like so many will never touch Blu-ray with a barge-pole.
Over-priced & under-spec'd DRM-laden garbage that it is.
tranzparentl @ Mar 13th 2008 8:33AM
Of course this was going to happen. The format war was a good thing for consumers because it was breeding competition. Sure the BDA companies will compete with each other now but not int he same way.
I said this would happen as soon as the format war ended.
http://cr4.globalspec.com/blogentry/5040/Why-HD-DVD-Should-Have-Won-the-Format-War-Part-II
HD4ME @ Mar 13th 2008 8:45AM
What i can't understand is, how has this whole BR thing been allowed to happen???
In this modern day and age, how does a company/cartel so openly go about corruptly destroying it's competition and setting up a monopoly to again, so openly set rip consumers off.
BR set out from day one to artificially inflate prices and sting consumers, and they have been allowed to do so!
Surely, there must be a stack of consumer protection laws broken in this whole sorry assed HD affair, if this were groceries or petrol, heads would roll and the public at large would be in an huge uproar.
Maybe the fact that they are not has sealed BRs fate, no one cares because it has declared itself an overly expensive niche market product with minimal advantages, with little or no long term future.
Mr. E @ Mar 13th 2008 9:08AM
What do you mean? It already happened.
In this modern day and age (1994), how does a company/cartel (Toshiba/The DVD Forum) so openly go about corruptly destroying it's competition (JVC's VHS) and setting up a monopoly to again, so openly set rip consumers off. ($700-$1000 DVD players at launch).
Get off your high horse and get a clue! There was nothing saintly about Toshiba or the HD DVD Forum this time around, and there's nothing evil about Sony or the BDA either. It's called competition and market forces.
If you don't like Blu-ray, don't buy it. But to keep harping on these same ridiculous conspiracy theories is just plain ignorant.
minimalist @ Mar 13th 2008 9:39AM
A-freakin-men Mr. E!
This paranoid anti-Sony hysteria produces the most absurd claims. "See, Sony planned it all along!", people scream without any shred of evidence other than their hatred of Sony to back it up. Not one of these conspiracy theorists seems aware of the fact that Sony is estimated to own only 1/3 of the IP on the Blu-ray patent or that they are only one of 18 CE companies, all competitors, on the Blu-ray Assocviation Board of Directors. They don't even know the history of previous CE formats. If nothing more than the lack of a competing format is required to call an industry standard a "cartel" then VHS, DVD, the CD and even the LP record were all "cartels" as well. An industry format produced by dozens of manufacturers is not the same thing as a monopoly people.
Ben Hobbs @ Mar 13th 2008 9:54AM
Mr.E
Thats a pretty bad analogy, the VHS and DVD are two different technologies nearly 20 years apart and the really BIG difference is that all movies were available on both formats more or less.
I'd say paying off manufacturers not to release their movies on a direct competitors format is pretty poor play. This would have played out so differently without movie industry guys trying to play the technology game.
I'm pretty sure they've shot themselves in the foot again trying to play kingmaker, most people download HD off the net because of the HD 'War'. I doubt Blu Ray will see anywhere near as much uptake as DVD.
D@n @ Mar 13th 2008 10:39AM
HD4ME displays his usual lack of knowledge of how business' work in the real world.
Blake @ Mar 13th 2008 10:55AM
Ben Hobbs, you have about as much clue about real business practices as the rest of the HD-DVD goon squad that spread their shite on here.
Toshiba were the first to pay off studios to release exclusive media! So I would say the BDA were playing them at their own game!
...and who exactly in the movie industry is trying to play the technology game? or more to the point, what would you say about Microsoft? they are a technology company trying to play the movie game!
Your contradiction of VHS vs DVD analogy is completely wrong! It's exactly the same. When DVD emerged into the marketplace, all the media was NOT available. It was released over time, as will it be with Blu-ray. You can blame Toshiba for the media exclusive situation as it was they who ran off to do their own thing.
as for comment about most people downloading HD off the net! well, that is your personal opinion and NOT a fact unless you prove otherwise!
You can doubt Blu-rays uptake all you want. See you in 10 years time eh?
minimalist @ Mar 13th 2008 1:33PM
@Ben Hobbs
I'd say paying off manufacturers not to release their movies on a direct competitors format is pretty poor play.
No, its just business and its just as much part of the free market as your consumer dollars are. And if you think Toshiba is above all this you need to do a little research about how they got Paramount to drop Blu-ray.
DVD itself was a consolidation of two incompatible earlier formats (Multimedia Compact Disc and SuperDensity Disc) and it too was the result of deals cut behind closed doors without consumer choice (no doubt with lots of money exchanging hands as well). Yet interstingly you don't hear cries of "let the consumer decide!" or "cartel!" about DVD's dominance.
most people download HD off the net because of the HD 'War'.
Really? Where is your proof of this? Do honestly think most people use bit torrent or are you confusing geeks that populate discussion forums like with accurate representation of the general public. Id be willing to bet most people dont even know what high def content really is yet.
I doubt Blu-ray will see anywhere near as much uptake as DVD.
That may be possible. But Blu-ray still has the best chance of any format, including downloads and VOD, of achieving mainstream success. People like simplicity and downloads are currently a confusing rats nest of rules and regulations (not to mention the selection sucks). As far as the cost go, even at 400 dollars, the cost of Blu-ray players is no worse than the cost of DVD players were 2 years into their life (in fact when adjusting 1998 dollars for inflation DVD players would have been averaging around 550-600 dollars at this point). People forget that 35 dollar Taiwanese DVD players at Wal-Mart is a very recent phenomenon.
HD4ME @ Mar 13th 2008 5:45PM
@ D@n
I own and run my own successful retail business with many employees, what do you do??
Stack shelves at target I bet!
Keith Benedict @ Mar 13th 2008 11:33AM
Well, the BDA better get smart and realize that there's still a competing format: DVD. With prices hovering around $400 for a Blu-ray player compared to $150 for a really good upconverting DVD player, which one do you think people are going to buy? Throw in the difference in disc cost and you have yourselves a new format war: DVD vs. Blu-ray.
The question is: Will the BDA realize this or will they slit their own throats?
minimalist @ Mar 13th 2008 1:59PM
Two years after the first one was introduced in 1996, DVD players were still averaging 390 dollars. VHS players averaged $133 dollars at the same time. Why would ANYONE have chosen DVD at the time? When you look back on the history of CE formats its amazing that ANY format ever took off because it is always more expensive, initially, than what it is replacing.
Some people will buy now. The prices will fall do to economies of scale. More people will buy, and the prices will fall more. And so on and so on. This is just how these things work. Blu-ray player and media prices are no higher now than their DVD equivalents were 10 years ago or their VHS equivalents were almost 25+ years ago.
Keith Benedict @ Mar 13th 2008 2:17PM
The problem with your comparison is that the difference between VHS and DVD were compelling enough that consumers noticed a big enough difference to upgrade. Upgrading to DVD bought you better picture and sound even on cheapy Daewoo SD TV's. DVD also gave you special features and other conveniences that you didn't get with VHS.
I really don't think that is the case when you compare DVD to Blu-ray. Sure it looks better (if you own an HDTV) and with the right system it sounds better. But it isn't nearly as compelling as say the comparison between VHS and DVD.
minimalist @ Mar 13th 2008 2:47PM
@Keith
DVD players had disadvantages that naysayerssaid would limit their appeal too. They didnt record like VCRs and they werent backwards compatible with VHS tapes (unlike Blu-ray). Yet they still managed to sell.
Besides, I think all people need tosee are the magic numbers "1080p" to sell. It works with LCD panels all the time.
tony @ Mar 13th 2008 12:12PM
Ya, who could have seen this coming. Oh wait, all of us Red people did. I support both formats, but hey, where i was paying 20-25 for new blu releases, now my local bestbuys are charging 30-40 for pretty much all blu movies. What a shocker!
Paul McElligott @ Mar 13th 2008 12:49PM
Of course, it's perfectly reasonable for the BDA, after spending all that money to win the format war, is going to turn around and active work to kill their own format by jacking up the prices. Anyone who thinks this is possible is smoking something illegal.
One thing that never gets discussed is the fact that, right now, there is an absolutely cap on the number of copies any Blu-ray title can sell, and that's the number of players currently in the wild. If the BDA wants to keep Fox, Disney, Warner and now Universal and Paramount happy, they need to expand the size of the market for Blu-ray discs. The only way to do that is by lowering the prices as fast as is possible and still make the player business profitable. The market for a $400 players is much bigger than the market for a $500 player and the market for $300 players is many times bigger still. Even if Sony or Panasonic were making a lot of bank on each $500 player, they aren't making a lot of money in absolute terms because they can't sell that many players. If they want to sell tens of millions or hundreds of millions of units, the only way for the Blu-ray players to be *hugely* profitable, the prices have to come down.
Thus endeth this lesson in Remedial Economics.
MasterCKO @ Mar 13th 2008 1:25PM
yay, let's all make sweeping generalizations based on incomplete and borderline misleading data! Whoo!!
Fuck Sony!
bujoun @ Mar 13th 2008 6:17PM
The biggest reason why Blu-Ray players cost more is because, unlike Toshiba, Sony is interested in making money! That's what big business is all about. Toshiba was stupid enough to eat the profits on their players and it didn't work! It resulted in nothing but losses even though they sold an impressive number of HD-DVD players. HD-DVD did have all of it's spec's ready on day one but there were more movies(that people wanted to see) in Blu-Ray than in HD-DVD. And that's why B-R movies were outselling HD-DVD movies by 4 to 1! All studios have switched to B-R now and HD-DVD movies are still being released only because those movies were contracted to. In the comming months HD-DVD movies will be in standard def and Blu-Ray only! An HD-DVD comeback would be utterly foolish. Toshiba would simply go through this all over again. "Nothing but losses"!!!
Rick K. @ Mar 15th 2008 1:40PM
I don't know. I was noticing yesterday that WalMart and Target still have all BD discs at $30. I don't think that will wow the populace. Even Audioholics weighs in,
http://www.audioholics.com/news/editorials/format-war-blu-ray-up-hd-dvd-down
The article ends with "So much for the supposed competition to come from within the BDA cartel."