http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/ Engadget HD Comments for ABI Research points out the obvious: Blu-ray prices prices heading downward http://www.engadgethd.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadgethd.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/
I guess I'll continue to wait for the better models to become affordable but now that I've waited this long, I'm not really looking forward to replacing my DVD's with Blu. Maybe one day but by that time, something else might have come along and stole Blu's thunder?

I guess prices falling is better than not falling at all. ]]>Nov 7th 2008 12:09PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/Nov 7th 2008 12:19PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/Nov 7th 2008 12:48PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/
As you all probably know the economic hardship is yet to hit us hard. They are now saying 2-3 months and the collapse will be felt among population. The big three car manufacturers have now came out and said they only have operating capital until the end of the year and will have to file bankruptcies.

In the situation we are in.. sub $200 players will be just as high and unapproachable as if they were $500. Let's not even go into the disc pricing.

Obviously the reason why BD CE companies have to take a loss on players is because they are at risk of losing everything as nobody can afford them at $250+.

I mean, this is good for those who can afford it, but based on the despair that I see from regular people, I'm doubtful that this will help Blu-ray.. they seem to succumb to pricing when it's already late. If they did that 2-3 months ago there would be a positive move, but as always they are not really consumer oriented until it hurts them.]]>Nov 7th 2008 12:16PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/
I really don't think either disproves the BDA's point. We also have Sherwood saying they're physically incapable of producing a player competitive with the subsidized units from the big manufacturers.

Now, don't get me wrong, BD players are obviously going to creep down in price, but the floor for a new, non-heavily-discounted, player is about $250 at the moment, with $400+ being more normal. And I've said before, the equivalent prices are around 10% of that for DVD players (eg you can get a DVD player for $25, $40+ buys you a nice one, and $100+ buys you a /really/ nice one or an overpriced premium model.) We have a long way to go before BD is competitive with DVD.]]>Nov 7th 2008 12:29PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/
That is not true. If you buy a Sony BDP-S350 (which goes now for $224) with four Warner titles, you get a $100 discount.

So for example you could get:

Sony BDP-S350 224.00
I Am Legend 17.95
300 17.95
Batman Begins 17.95
Goodfellas 16.95
Subtotal 294.80

Discount -100.00
Total 194.80

Yep- a Sony BD-Live player with PiP and high-resolution audio bitstreaming, for under $200 with four free movies.
]]>Nov 7th 2008 1:23PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/
That may be so at online store or if you are lucky to find a deal.. MSRP at stores I saw makes BDP-350 at $299.

Regardless of the deal, people still have a choice to make, if they want to buy movies or player they will be hard pressed to pay $230-$250 for a hi-def player when they can buy upscaling DVD player at $50-$80 in these insane economic times and that's under the condition they buy anything now and then we have of course a question of expensive movies. The handful movies you can buy under $20 is not really a great collection.]]>Nov 7th 2008 1:37PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/
It's certainly nice you can just about find a half decent offer for under $200, but it's not typical of what's available. As Bozster points out, enter any B&M store, and you'll be lucky to find a BDP-350 for much under $300.]]>Nov 7th 2008 2:36PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/Nov 8th 2008 1:03AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/Nov 7th 2008 2:11PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/Nov 7th 2008 8:09PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/07/abi-research-points-out-the-obvious-blu-ray-prices-prices-headi/Nov 9th 2008 3:30PM