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Sales indicate consumers aren't ready for Blu-ray yet

The consumer market was very happy to switch from VHS to DVD, but it appears that the transition to high-definition media isn’t being met with the same enthusiasm.

Any stunted growth of the high-definition generation was previously attributed to the ongoing format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. But with the format war over and Blu-ray Disc victorious, customers no longer face such a buyer’s barrier.

To the dismay of the Blu-ray Disc industry, acceptance and adoption of the latest in high-definition movie delivery is barely lukewarm. Most expected that the surrender of HD DVD would trigger a surge for Blu-ray Disc, but instead, sales of Blu-ray Disc hardware fell 40 percent from January to February, NPD Group reported.

The lull in sales didn’t improve much at all, rising only 2 percent from February to March. NPD declined to release specific sales numbers “for fear that it would be easy to identify individual retailers,” according to a New York Times blog. Actual figures are to be released later this year.

Cost is likely a top factor in the slow adoption of Blu-ray Disc, as even the cheapest player is hundreds more than an upscaling DVD machine. In other reasons, consumers may not immediately see the benefits of upgrading to Blu-ray Disc, which mainly provides increased quality of picture and sound. Features such as chapter skip, multiple language tracks and lack of rewinding tape are already present on DVD.

“When we surveyed consumers late last year, an overwhelming number of them said they weren't investing in a new next-generation player because their old DVD player worked well and next-generation players were too expensive,” said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis at NPD. “It's clear from retail sales that those consumer sentiments are still holding true.”

While sales of Blu-ray Disc players may be stagnant, PlayStation 3 consoles are moving at a decent rate. According to the AP, ABI Research estimates that PS3s make up more than 85 percent of Blu-ray players in use this year and that the number of stand-alone players and Blu-ray-equipped PCs won't surpass Sony’s console base until 2013.

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By michal1980 on 5/1/2008 4:06:53 PM , Rating: 5
all the economic messes?




By rudy on 5/1/2008 4:10:13 PM , Rating: 5
Also despite what others feel I think the competition was good. Now that it is gone and Sony has no fear of competitors they are not slashing prices and not advertising nearly as much so there is little incentive or attention now. They are content to ride it out with little investment.


By pomaikai on 5/1/2008 5:01:34 PM , Rating: 4
Now that the format war is over it is no longer on the front pages anymore. Because of the lack of improvements other than image and sound no one really thinks about it as much. Are they still offering 5 free movies with the purchase of a player? That was a big reason they were selling also. The biggest problem with price is that if you want to step up to blu ray you really need to upgrade every DVD player in your house or you will only be able to watch the new blu ray movie you bought on one TV.


By Oakley516 on 5/1/2008 6:52:42 PM , Rating: 5
Not everyone is as wealthy as you, and may not have more than one DVD player in their home.


By SoCalBoomer on 5/2/2008 2:03:00 PM , Rating: 3
Other than that it wasn't relevant to the discussion.

The fact that he has several Blue-Ray devices isn't relevant to why the market isn't taking off.

High cost - yep.
No significant perceived improvement? yep.
Less exposure now that the format-war is over? Yep.

The fact that HE owns 5? Nope.


By JonnyDough on 5/2/2008 10:33:09 PM , Rating: 2
I was auto-rated down as soon as I posted. I'm curious, is "heck" the one that did it? What the heck, we can't say heck? Well, if this gets auto-rated down I guess I'll know. :-P


By SlyNine on 5/4/2008 1:43:33 AM , Rating: 3
Because you replied to a -1 comment


By JonnyDough on 5/5/2008 10:41:32 PM , Rating: 2
Oooh. I didn't know that's how it worked. Is there a like a list of rules and such for this silly system? It sure would be nice...


By JonnyDough on 5/3/2008 8:44:31 PM , Rating: 1
Your point? I think your point was "hey look at me, I'm better than everyone else!" You're not.

As far as me sucking off mom, well....

Wow there guy, you nailed it! Wow, yes! I live in my parent's basement and never had any hardship in life. You know me so well! That's called sarcasm. It's what we give to idiots.

I could elaborate and share my life story, but then that would leave me being you. So you made it in life and you owe it all to yourself. Good job!

Now if only you could also learn some wisdom, a little dignity, and HUMILITY you'd be all set. There's nothing worse than someone pointing out how great they are. Pride before a fall, after all!

Maybe you should quit ASSuming that everyone else is somehow lesser or not as capable as you. Do you know what ASSuming makes you? That's right. A jack-donkey. Quit your braying, nobody cares. We've all overcome things.

No wait, there's more. Apparently, you just don't get it.

You're special, just like everyone else. I'm glad you're proud of yourself Mr. Pious, but please learn to have respect for others. I know plenty of people that were forced to grow up fast and make their own way in life. Who are we, Hiltons? No sir, we've had to work too. Grow up already and start acting your age.


By gochichi on 5/2/2008 11:43:20 AM , Rating: 1
How is the Lite-On on the PC working for ya?

I have a nice computer, 4GB RAM, 2.4GHz Quad-core, with a 8600GT video card (it has a "video accelerator"). So if I slap a Lite-On Bluray drive, it should work fine right?

Specifically, how is the software that comes with it? Is it good enough?

Hmmm... so I guess you think it's totally worth it huh? I have a 24" 1200P LCD monitor which is what I'd be using.


By Gio6518 on 5/2/2008 12:33:13 PM , Rating: 2
software looks great but it comes only has 2ch have to pay for upgrade, your specs should be fine

got an 6400+ on a crosshair mobo
4gb corsair xms
8800gtx in sli
and 32 samsung hdtv 1080p
logitech z5500 speakers hooked up through an optical cable
so it really looks and sounds great
especially since the lite-on is about $130.00


By bfellow on 5/5/2008 9:02:30 AM , Rating: 2
I have a Lite-On BD-Rom drive and now I regret buying it.

It's only 4x and slow as hell. Talk about taking 3-5 minutes to load a disc plus however complicated a BD-J menu a movie has.


By djc208 on 5/2/2008 7:04:39 AM , Rating: 5
With DVD players as cheap as $20 and practially built into everything any more having multiple DVD players doesn't require a six figure salarly.

Most people however, only have one HDTV in their house, and even if they have more than one, the others are problably smaller, cheaper TVs which probably didn't cost much more than an BD player to begin with.


By StevoLincolnite on 5/2/2008 10:25:25 AM , Rating: 2
And yet, with the Prices of Fuel, Food and everything increasing, and some of the silly large debts people have, they are probably more inclined to keep that $20 than spend it on a DVD player.
Thus it all works hand in hand, and here in Australia DVD players usually hang around the $40+ range and our Dollar as well as Average wage is very similar to the United states, I personally don't own a DVD player, except the one I have my computer, which funny enough never gets used for watching DVD's I generally just use Downloaded content and watch it on the Australian Standard 575P Television which I'm happy with.


By gochichi on 5/2/2008 11:54:34 AM , Rating: 3
Ha!

Ummm, do buy domestic products as well bro. Many of us are hurtin'.

Do you find that Bluray is better enough than HDTV over cable or DirecTV which is more convenient?

I don't think it's so much a price issue as it is an issue of a flood of alternatives. You can download a "good enough" HD movie from Apple TV, or an XBOX 360, cable and the like or rent a DVD for $1.00 and rip it in 15 minutes so I can watch it whenever I want without lugging a disk.

My conclusion is that there are too many alternatives. DVD piracy and its simplicity and practicality is not negligible.

The HDDVD/BLuray competition took away much of the thunder that disks had. Half of the early adopters are pissed too because they went with HDDVD.

PS. You should really consider giving to charity.


By Gio6518 on 5/2/2008 12:40:54 PM , Rating: 2
i wish i could buy american, sadly our polititians give away all our manufacturing jobs, i do have directv i'll stick with blu ray you talk about buying american then you wont buy discs which primarilly go to american companies and actors, film crews etc,(you get my point) plus directv tops out at 1080i,
and as far as charity goes i do give $1000.00 a year to toys for tots,and more to other child related charities, i only feel sorry for the children, not the lazy adults that expect hand outs.


By gochichi on 5/2/2008 1:26:28 PM , Rating: 2
I'm not judging at all. I think it's great. I think it's useful to ask people that have a lot of crap about what crap is worthwhile and which isn't.

I'm cheap/poor and selfish so I rent DVD for a $1.00 at the local McD's and rip the movie off :)Or if the movie is really good and I have the time, I go to the theater and get myself ripped off.


By djc208 on 5/4/2008 10:37:05 AM , Rating: 2
You're by far the exception rather than the rule. Most people don't have a "gym" either, let alone the kind of "extra" cash laying around to buy 6 HDTVs, and if they do then they don't really fit in the above argument.

I only have one because it's all I need, being the only one in the house. But even a "cheap" $500 LCD isn't a minor purchase to most people, let alone a $400 BD player to go with it.


By JLL55 on 5/1/2008 7:51:04 PM , Rating: 2
I was wondering, I saw on the Blu-ray website that they can play regular DVD's... Am I mistaken?


By Haltech on 5/1/2008 8:36:18 PM , Rating: 3
True, same with an HD-DVD hardware also


By bryanW1995 on 5/1/2008 8:39:28 PM , Rating: 3
yes, and blu-ray players also upscale your old dvd's to a higher picture quality.


By jonp on 5/1/2008 11:58:16 PM , Rating: 3
Yes, but only through HDMI, NOT component connections.


By anotherdude on 5/2/2008 7:54:27 AM , Rating: 2
Just asking - Will it at least upscale to 720p over component or do you need HDMI to get any upscale at all?


By Master Kenobi (blog) on 5/2/2008 8:11:26 AM , Rating: 2
HDMI for any resolution/upscale past 480p.


By Lightning III on 5/2/2008 9:58:09 AM , Rating: 2

If you use Any DVD and just dupe a copy from netflix it removes the encrytion and then it will upscale over component.


By encryptkeeper on 5/2/2008 8:49:25 AM , Rating: 3
Another price war that's going to have to be fought is with DVDs themselves: namely the fact that you can pick up a DVD 2 months after it's release for 10-15 bucks. Most of the movies that first came out on BluRay 2 years ago are STILL 30 bucks.


By jrb531 on 5/2/2008 4:04:28 PM , Rating: 2
This is my plight. I rent from Blockbuster online (after Netflix blocked me from watching online movies because I installed their software on more than 4 computers - 3 of which did not work due to DRM!)

So I get a movie in the mail and it gets watched all over the house as everyone has a cheap DVD player. I can put that standard DVD in my upscale DVD player and while it's not "true" HD DVD it's "good enough."

If I was to buy a Blu-thingie I would be locked into watching those movies on the one TV and the rest of the home is effectivly locked out from movie rentals.

Sony has won the war but were are the price drops? IMHO they do not want price drops right now because the current price is driving PS3 sales! They know if Blu-Ray drops lower than PS3 prices then a good portion of their PS3 sales go away.

So once again the consumer is at the mercy of Sony trying to force us into buying what we do not.

Can anyone tell me why a PS3 is the cheapest Blu-Ray player on the market? After all there is far more in a PS3 than is needed in a standalone Blu-Ray player.

So for now I'll enjoy my cheap DVD's on my $45 upscaling DVD player on my 50" DLP and while it's not perfect it's good enough for me and I suspect most people.

So keep those Blu-Ray players expensive.
So keep those Blu-Ray discs expensive.

After all, nothing gets John-Q Citizen to want to buy something when they have to pay 5-6 times the cost for maybe a 30-50% improvement in quality.

Hmmmmm

Upscaling DVD player = $45
Blu-Ray Player = $350+

I wonder why the average joe is not lining up to buy into Blu-Ray?

-JB


By SlyNine on 5/4/2008 1:54:46 AM , Rating: 2
Because, last I knew, They loose money on the PS3. They do this so they can make it up with software sales.


By jtyson on 5/1/2008 8:54:28 PM , Rating: 2
Very true. I think now that Blu-Ray has won the format war, the most important thing is to make Blu-Ray discs as versatile and widespread as DVDs are. Right now they're primarily being used for movies, but once we start to see Blu-Ray drives being standard on PCs and used as a legitimate storage medium, the companies will have no choice but to drop the prices on the players and discs. Once Blu-Ray technology is commonplace, people will no longer have to pay a premium.

Basically, it needs to replace DVDs. It's just getting to that point that's taking forever...


By masher2 (blog) on 5/1/2008 11:36:19 PM , Rating: 3
I think its going to take a great deal longer than most people think. Right now studios see Blu Ray as *extra* revenue; a more profitable outlet than standard DVD. Why drop prices and cut your margins?

BD disks will remain a price premium....up to the point at which consumers begin refusing to buy movies in standard DVD any longer.

This is essentially the same pricing path that DVD followed over VHS. I see no reason for it to not repeat again.


By callmeroy on 5/5/2008 3:14:57 PM , Rating: 2
Definitely it will happen...eventually....its going to take quite a while (especially with the crappy economy).

Unless..hmmm..if only the government made some kind of stimulus plan..........(LOL)

;)


By bpurkapi on 5/2/2008 2:17:57 AM , Rating: 3
why would pc's use bd as a storage medium, we have cheap hdd's , flash drives, and best of all internet storage. I personally hate all discs and want everything online that way when my hardware craps out I can easily get it back, or I can access it from any web terminal. Disc = Dumb.


By feraltoad on 5/2/2008 4:14:32 AM , Rating: 2
Still, having a writable disc with 10x the capacity of a DVD would go a long way towards making discs attractive for storage again. That is, as you stated, if the prices per GB of those discs weren't twice as expensive as a hdd.

If someone had a DVD binder full of discs and a stack of hard drives who would have thought that the HDDs would be the cheaper of the two? It just seems ludicrous that the usage costs of a reusable metal mechanical medium would be lower than plastic single use writable discs.


By Master Kenobi (blog) on 5/2/2008 8:13:38 AM , Rating: 4
Except BR-Disc is only 5x bigger than a DVD.


By ytsejam02 on 5/2/2008 1:00:50 PM , Rating: 2
Depends on the BR. I don't know if they manufacture them yet, but in theory BR is 25GB/layer. so if you make it dual layer, dual sided, that's 100GB and about 22x bigger than DVD.


By symbul on 5/2/2008 1:51:31 PM , Rating: 2
Well considering that you can buy dual layer standard DVDs now, BR has a only a 2.5 times storage advantage. The question is does a BR disc cost more than 2.5 times the cost of a DL standard DVD? Even if the BR disk becomes cheaper, how much time will it take to offset the cost difference between the players/writers (DL DVD writers are dirt cheap).


By ytsejam02 on 5/2/2008 3:15:01 PM , Rating: 2
Absolutely, in fact, good point, I totally disregarded that DVDs can have the same format of dual layer, dual sided. :-) So technically that's, 18GB, which is closer to 5. My bad. In fact, why bother extrapolating it at all... just compare layer to layer...

Anyway, yeah, cost and convenience. Since it's obviously more convenient to have BR's lying around cause they hold so much data, but you have to be willing to pay a lot more.

The prices will come down eventually. Perhaps fueled by the PC market since that's the real value in buying blank BR's. As for the movies... I'm in no rush to upgrade. I already have an upconverter, and it's not like I'm going to rebuy all of my movies. Some of my all time fav's don't even have blu-ray equivalents.


By Reclaimer77 on 5/2/2008 3:26:30 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
The prices will come down eventually. Perhaps fueled by the PC market since that's the real value in buying blank BR's.


I just bought 100 Taiyo Yuden's for .32$ each, probably the best blanks money can buy in DVD+R. Last time I checked a Blu Ray blank was like $15 bucks ! Making coasters can and will happen. Disks do get ruined. A 15 buck loss per coaster ? You know, really, no thank you. I don't think the price could possibly " come down " enough for BR to be a viable PC backup media. Especially since Sony is fighting so hard to prevent Blu-Ray from being easily ripped/encoded/burned.


By JonnyDough on 5/3/2008 8:50:13 PM , Rating: 2
Why can't we use online for backup and use the discs? I'd love to DL movies and rip them to a disc. Why can't we get a system where you may burn it to a disc once, or send an old scratched disc via post and receive a free replacement? Why do we have to settle for scratched discs that no longer work?


By kamel5547 on 5/1/2008 4:13:23 PM , Rating: 5
I have a feeling that is a minor part of the problem...

Frankly I'm in the same boat as everyone, why should I bother to upgrade to Blu-Ray? I'd need to get a new TV to even be able to see the difference, and I'd need a new reciever to get the benefit of the sound quality. TO top it off the discs are more expensive.

Too much of an investment when what I have now works jsut fine, I think I can find something else to blow a couple grand on.


By djc208 on 5/2/2008 7:16:32 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
I'd need to get a new TV to even be able to see the difference, and I'd need a new reciever to get the benefit of the sound quality. TO top it off the discs are more expensive.


That's one of the huge reasons BD won't take off like DVD did. DVDs worked with your existing TVs, which was basically every household in the US (and most other countries). BD only works with HDTVs which is still a much smaller user base (25% was the last figure I think I saw for the US). So even if the players were $100 you'd only have a max of 25% of the market that would be interested, and only a percentage that would actually upgrade even then.


By marvdmartian on 5/2/2008 10:26:12 AM , Rating: 2
You hit the nail right on the head. DVD players only required you to hook up to your existing tv set to enjoy the technology, while hi-def players required you to spend much more money to get the full effect.

Add to that the fact that an upscaling dvd player will play my existing dvd's at near top-end HD quality, at a fraction of the cost of the BR players. Why then would I bother, unless I was just one of those people that HAS to have the latest & greatest.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not getting down on those people, as they're the ones that cause the prices to eventually come down for the rest of us. But until a BR player comes out for <$100, I won't bother....and it's likely we'll see a newer, better technology breakthrough before that happens, imho.


By maverick85wd on 5/1/2008 4:22:18 PM , Rating: 2
I would guess most people interested in HD-capable players (for the immediate time being) bought them last year when they started to gain steam and were always in the news... around the holiday season.

Now if a person wants a BD-player the PS3 is a smart option because not only is it constantly being upgraded in regaurds to it's BD-playing capabilities, you can play video games on it too. I'm buying one when the MGS4 bundle is finally released :o)


By maverick85wd on 5/1/2008 4:23:15 PM , Rating: 1
*regards

/edit button


By darkblade33 on 5/1/2008 5:36:19 PM , Rating: 2
This is nothing to do with economics..

Bluray was adopted over HD-DVD because NEITHER was selling well at all... move sales on both were slow.. a choice was made to put all the resources into one - or risk seeing both die.. the logic being one has a better chance then both fighting against each other.. and many companies did support both at one time or another..

I firmly beleive bluray will NEVER see DVD-like popularity.. it may get close, but I doubt it'll be very close.

Look at music sale trends.. last year music downloads where still 3rd place behind cd ( media ) sales .. this year they are number TWO .. closing in on 1st place. Buying entertainment data on physical media is becoming a thing of the past..


By xsilver on 5/1/2008 8:13:41 PM , Rating: 3
??
3rd) digital downloads
2nd) physical cd sales
1st) ??? radio? pirates? spiritual enlightenment?


By wordsworm on 5/1/2008 9:58:28 PM , Rating: 4
quote:
I firmly beleive bluray will NEVER see DVD-like popularity.. it may get close, but I doubt it'll be very close.


You say that as if DVD sales were rocketing in their second year rather than taking years to catch up with VHS. In the beginning, when you went to the video store, you could buy an expensive DVD or a relatively cheap VHS. The selection was terrible (for DVDs). DVD players were expensive.

I'm slow to adopt anything. The first DVD player I got was a Pioneer burner for my computer at about $120. The first component DVD player I got was $60. All this happened about 6 years ago, a full 11 years after the instantiation of the first commercially available DVD player. (1993)

A few nights ago I went looking for Blu-Ray hardware and noticed that the burners are around $299 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
I can get a HD-DVD/Blu-Ray player for about $199. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
I also have more money than I did when I finally bought my DVD players (which coincidentally was when I was a student at uni), I have a penchant for buying super cheap stuff which I suspect HD DVD movies will be in the near future as companies try to unload their good, yet now defunct stock, not to mention garage sale value in the next 2-3 years. In any case, I digress.

Blu-Ray may or may not see DVD-like popularity. However, this is not the time to gauge that. When all the equipment and Blu-rays themselves are in the $12/disc - $100 player/$150 burner area, Blu-Ray will start to overtake DVD. People will say, when they're getting a new media player, "Well, this player is only $40 more and I can watch both my DVDs and start watching Blu-Rays." That's all at least 3-4 years away from now I estimate. In fact, I fully expect Blu-Ray to catch on faster for the simple fact that it also plays DVDs, unlike the DVD players being unable to play VHS.

In any case, I fully disagree with everything you said. I just chose to rant about that one comment I quoted.


By retrospooty on 5/1/2008 10:53:47 PM , Rating: 2
"When all the equipment and Blu-rays themselves are in the $12/disc - $100 player/$150 burner area, Blu-Ray will start to overtake DVD."

Yes, but without competition, BR isnt dropping and wont see those prices for years... By then flash media will be cheaper, faster, more economical and have more capacity to boot...


By wordsworm on 5/1/2008 11:51:16 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
Yes, but without competition, BR isnt dropping and wont see those prices for years
I disagree completely. With one format having been chosen, it will allow competitive companies, such as LG, Sony, Phillips, etc, to focus their attention on Blu-Ray, discovering ways to reduce the costs of manufacture/price, etc., rather than having to split their attention between two different formats. VHS became cheap well after Beta lost the war.

I don't expect flash media to ever become competitive with optical. I'd like to see where you got that idea from. As far as being faster is concerned, optical is far from depleted technology. I'm certain that when media displays have increased their display properties, there will be a better optical technology to supplant BR.


By retrospooty on 5/2/2008 8:37:06 AM , Rating: 2
"I don't expect flash media to ever become competitive with optical. I'd like to see where you got that idea from"

I got that from an article posted here at DT. I forget who, but one of the industry bigwigs was theorizing BR will never catch on big, becasue by the time its affordable to the masses, Flash media will be cheaper, larger,faster etc. The theory is its all data, bits and byts etc... Would you rather carry 5 movies around on 5 BR discs or stick it all on a tiny flash card in your pocket (unnoticed at that). Its acompelling arguement... In a few years we will have 32, 64 and even 128 GB flash media (maybe SDHC or a variant) selling extremely cheap.


By wordsworm on 5/2/2008 9:01:27 AM , Rating: 2
I have about 200 DVDs for a total of about 1,000 GB. If in 3-4 years I start collecting BRs the way I am DVDs, that would be in the neighborhood of 10 TB. Anyways, I can't see a flash drive replacing an optical disc any time soon. A 5 or 8 GB flash drive will never go for 50 cents. The Internet backbone, at least in the US, is proving to be very poor and inadequate for much humbler requirements than downloading DVDs/BDs and then saving them on magnetic or flash drives. I simply can't see it working as a replacement in the next 10 years.


By retrospooty on 5/2/2008 9:23:25 AM , Rating: 1
Yes, but just because you cant see it, doesnt mean it wont happen... and we aren't talking about today, we are talking about a few years down the road. remember just 5 or so years ago 16GB SD card was a hundred dollars, now we have 16GB SDHC cards for less than $100. It drops really fast... especially when bought in bulk.


By retrospooty on 5/2/2008 9:34:12 AM , Rating: 2
oops...damn typos... 16 mb 5 or so years ago, now is 16GB.


By wordsworm on 5/2/2008 9:38:35 AM , Rating: 3
Even the cheapest flash drives are about $8 for a 256MB unit. No matter what happens to flash, it won't be 50 cents per unit like a DVD or what a BR will be in about 3-4 years.


By retrospooty on 5/2/2008 9:49:07 AM , Rating: 1
obsolete retail products like a 256mb flash card and mass produced standard format (if adopted by media companies as a format) are 2 totally different prices. If it were to catch on, studios would buy them by the millions of units and they would be competitively cheap.

Who knows though. We will have to wait and see. I do know one thing.... BR needs to drop prices to be adopted by the masses, and if that doesn't happen, SOME other standard will be created and adopted to fill that gap.


By wordsworm on 5/2/2008 10:01:23 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
I do know one thing.... BR needs to drop prices to be adopted by the masses,


I think the biggest factor in inhibiting BR sales is the cost of the discs and the terrible selection offered in that format. I wouldn't be surprised to see BR take another 7-9 years before it hits equal status with DVD. But I cannot accept the postulate that flash will compete at all with optical media. It has its place, and its penetration will expand. Nonetheless, it won't be optical that it supplants.


By BansheeX on 5/2/2008 1:16:44 AM , Rating: 2
You're an idiot. No competition? Those studios and manufacturers are all competing with each other for your purchase. By your rationale, DVD should have stayed perpetually high because there was no competing format. But it didn't. Over the course of several years, players went from $500 to $100. Why are we expecting anything quicker this time around?

In fact, this entire thread is alarmist, impatient pap. Here we are, a few months into the year, and everyone thinks blu-ray was supposed to supplant DVD overnight because it beat HD-DVD? Since when? This was going to take years to get a foot in the door from the VERY BEGINNING. Even HD-DVD sold like sh$t compared to DVD and at $150 players no less. Until the library of releases gets better and more people buy HDTVs, this will remain a niche format. Stop lamenting already, Jesus.


By Master Kenobi (blog) on 5/2/2008 8:16:30 AM , Rating: 2
The BD Association is not licensing BR to the cheap suppliers that typically force the market down. Right now the only companies authorized to produce BR players are in the price premium category. That will keep prices higher, longer.


By wordsworm on 5/2/2008 8:31:22 AM , Rating: 2
I tend to think of LG as one of those 'cheap suppliers.' Perhaps you could elaborate on what you mean along with providing a source for the comment.


By Spuke on 5/2/2008 10:15:29 AM , Rating: 2
Maybe a few years ago I would've agreed but LG makes some top notch stuff now.


By retrospooty on 5/2/2008 8:30:48 AM , Rating: 2
I am an idiot? thats nice... thanks. Your (still) blind devotion to a disk format (that sounds rediculous even thinking about it) has become really old. I was merely stating that once HD-DVD got out, BR stopped dropping in price, in spite of assurances form yourself specifically. According to execs at Samsung and Sony (as reported here at DT a few weeks ago) BR prices wont be dropping anytime soon.

I never saw a DVD player for $500 , much less $1000 like BR started out at. I have never, ever seen any DVD player for over $300, and It did not take 5 years for it to get cheap. I do recall getting a progressive scan DVD player in 2004 for $250, last year, in 2007, just 3 years later, you could get them anywhere on th net for $30. BR is not on that kind of a track.

Get a habit other than Blue Ray... you are appearing to be both narrow-minded and nerdy at the same time.


By BansheeX on 5/2/2008 10:04:26 AM , Rating: 2
If you think that BD is permanently stuck at the current pricing, you are indeed an idiot. It is not unusual at all for a product to have sale prices in the xmas season only to have the price spike back up in spring.

quote:
I was merely stating that once HD-DVD got out, BR stopped dropping in price, in spite of assurances form yourself specifically.


I dare you to go back and find where I predicted anything remotely like what you were hoping for. Price decreases are historically quite gradual for any tech product. Only royalty battles like this one see the kind of volatility we've already experienced.

And despite the inordinate praise, what HD-DVD fans are not grasping here is the role that Toshiba's pricing played in its demise. The Toshiba player pricing was artificially low and one of the reasons they lost, because only they were making players for it. No other producers wanted to because they didn't want to lose money like Toshiba. It made no business sense. That gave consumers less choice and the perception that Toshiba had less support and less of a chance to win.


By Spuke on 5/2/2008 10:22:20 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
It made no business sense. That gave consumers less choice and the perception that Toshiba had less support and less of a chance to win.
Where do you get this stuff from? And why does it matter? It's just a format dude not the second coming of Christ.


By retrospooty on 5/2/2008 10:31:52 AM , Rating: 2
I didnt say BR prices were permanently stuck, its that they are dropping too slowly to be adopted by the masses.

"I dare you to go back and find where I predicted anything remotely like what you were hoping for. "

I dont have the time nor inclination to dig through months of posts of yours or mine to find the exact quote... I do know that it was here at DT and you were replying directly to me. I was concerned that since Toshiba gave up on HD-DVD, the BR camp would slow down dramatically on dropping prices... You said not to worry, by the end of 08 we will see 1080p BR players for $200 and likely to drop another $100 by the end of 09.

Anyhow, its pointless debating with you. There doesnt seem to be anything I, or anyone can say to you that will stop your personal jesusification of the BR format. That about says it all.


By wordsworm on 5/2/2008 11:13:44 AM , Rating: 2
By elgoliath on 5/2/2008 3:26:15 PM , Rating: 2
Awesome. How much for the rest of the PC so I can hook it up to my TV.....?

I do believe people are referring to stand alone players, not PC drives.


By wordsworm on 5/2/2008 11:35:13 PM , Rating: 2
For another $169 with Linux you get the PC. They can be had dirt cheap these days. So, for $320 you get a computer and a Bluray player. But, the better argument against is that most people don't want to operate a computer to watch a movie (although I do). So, I pay more attention to the computer components than the stand alone players.


By retrospooty on 5/2/2008 3:56:00 PM , Rating: 2
That is an internal player, not a standalone. Most people arent going to hook a media center PC up to thier TV... Big difference, although that is a great price for those with a media PC.


By Spuke on 5/2/2008 10:20:51 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
I never saw a DVD player for $500 , much less $1000 like BR started out at.
Dude, DVD players did indeed start out over $1000 when first introduced to the market. The thing is I don't remember how long it took for the prices to come down. I wasn't in the market at the time.


By cicatriz63 on 5/2/2008 10:58:37 AM , Rating: 2
So you recall buying a progressive scan in 2004 for $250 huh. The first DVDs were released in 1997, so I guess you're right, it didn't take 5 years, it took almost 7. Normal DVD players were just as expensive at the start. Blue ray is on the same track.

Get a clue before you post useless nonsense.


By retrospooty on 5/2/2008 3:54:24 PM , Rating: 2
"Get a clue before you post useless nonsense."

If you would bother to read and comprehend before being as a$$, then you would underdstand why I added the word "progressive scan" The PS players were released much later and were more expensive at first (like anything). My point is they dropped like crazy. 3 years later and they are $30


By aliasfox on 5/3/2008 10:24:12 AM , Rating: 2
Of course there were expensive DVD players back in the day - my parents bought an entry level Sony DVD-S330 (I think that's the model) for $340 in 1999. The model above that (DVD-S550) went for $500 - which I recently bought from Goodwill just to play around with. DVD players existed long before 1999, and I remember reading articles about "affordable" DVD players in the $600 range in one of the home theater magazines of the day.

It took VHS about a decade to drop solidly below the $100 mark - there's no way BluRay will take that long. DVD dropped from $500 to $50 in the span of under five years on the marketplace - between 1997 and 2001. I don't think we'll see such a precipitous drop so quickly with BD, but the market will be flooded with ~$200 BD players by the time the DTV switchover happens - cheap enough that people will pick one up with their new TVs (I'm expecting that lots of people will buy new TVs early next year whether they really need to or not).