BR vs DVD stand alone sales, it ain't pretty

[EastCoasthandle]

According to NPD, Blu-ray standalone players sales decreased by 40 percent starting January to February. Only to rise 2% from February to March. With no competition this is looking bad. Do to this news, it's clear that the other news about BR sales up by 351% is officially debunked.
IMO, I believe the main problems are, but not limited to:
-lack of innovation
-higher price
-PS3 sales (only Sony can create the PS3 leaving everyone else to create stand alone player)
-Other HD sources available
-Strong demand for DVD and dvd upscaling capabilities

Only time will tell if this improves by christmas (7 months from now :rolleyes:)
Source (http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/30/blu-ray-the-future-has-been-delayed/)

[lemonadesoda]

IMO, SONY have successfully OWND the BR format. It's the first format war they've won in a long time, so congrats to them!

[farlex85]

I think the main problem is that hd televisions are still pretty expensive, and w/o one there is no point in getting blu-ray. When hd televisions are more accessible, blue-ray will likely take off.

[Error 404]

I think the main problem is that hd televisions are still pretty expensive, and w/o one there is no point in getting blu-ray. When hd televisions are more accessible, blue-ray will likely take off.

That, and the lack of demand for an HD format in the first place. The disks cost too much, and there are a tiny fraction of Blu-Ray videos compared to DVDs on the market. With low demand for the disks, people aren't making Blu-Ray movie disks.
I don't see the point of it, until it starts becoming a standard, commonplace format, like the DVD.

[Steevo]

I DVR'd LOTR trilogy in HD from my cable, no piracy, no issues, no loss and no BR.


Why buy a blu-ray player when HD cable is 9.95 more per month and I can record 15-20 HD full length movies plus 50 some episodes of family guy? Plus esata/firewire/USB means more storage for cheap.

[EastCoasthandle]

I DVR'd LOTR trilogy in HD from my cable, no piracy, no issues, no loss and no BR.


Why buy a blu-ray player when HD cable is 9.95 more per month and I can record 15-20 HD full length movies plus 50 some episodes of family guy? Plus esata/firewire/USB means more storage for cheap.
Good point. Yes, there are other alternatives that the majority obviously find "good enough".

[flashstar]

Also, in a year or two Blu-ray will be obsolete. Even now, streaming content over the internet is becoming more and more popular (Apple Itunes movies?). Soon, there will be no need to drive all the way to the store just to get a disk.

[jonmcc33]

I don't think it's an issue with the format or any Sony domination. It's just purely a rather bad economy right now. Why do you think Bush pushed out the stimulus rebate checks? He's trying to force people to spend money.

[Steevo]

That "stimulus" is a joke. Buy import goods with money borrowed from China to put the US further in debt while the marginal amount of goods we export are being copied and cheaply imitated.

[imperialreign]

I don't think it's an issue with the format or any Sony domination. It's just purely a rather bad economy right now. Why do you think Bush pushed out the stimulus rebate checks? He's trying to force people to spend money.

twice during his total 8 year term, as well. This round is just bigger than the last one.

Sorry to say it, but our oligarchy is a bunch of morons. War and conflict tend to stimulate the economy well enough - but if that doesn't work, you're doing something wrong.

coupled with the rising living costs nationwide, and the fact that the average wage hasn't budged that much over the last 8-10 years - people are going further into debt trying to make ends meet. Creditors are runnign rampant with their interest rates, and banks are approving people for housing loans that really shouldn't be approved, or, they're offering ridiculous rates for mortages as well. Insurance costs are through the roof - and our government doesn't want to step in and put a stop to the corporate machines that are solely after profit. The biggest thing they could do, is to put a stop to the majority of outsourcing that our companies are guilty of.

It's not all too evident in most areas of the country, but some regions you can really see how tilted the system has become. Visit our region for about a month, and you'll see a definite seperation between income classes, and the military.




anyhow - on topic: I was really dissapointed that BR won the format war; only because SONY is behind it. The company has gotten involved in too many markets, IMO, and it's not like they offer the best price for what you recieve. They tend to charge way too much for their goods/services, when there is better at a cheaper price.

But, I guess it doesn't matter all that much, they may have won, but it's a m00t point with how quickly HD TV and DVR capabilites are growing, as well as with streaming and downloadable content over the internet. Sure, right now you might not get the greatest bandwidth rates in the world, but with more demand, the providers will step it up - plus, with high-speed internet connections becoming more widely available and faster, the demand will go up as well.

[Wile E]

I DVR'd LOTR trilogy in HD from my cable, no piracy, no issues, no loss and no BR.


Why buy a blu-ray player when HD cable is 9.95 more per month and I can record 15-20 HD full length movies plus 50 some episodes of family guy? Plus esata/firewire/USB means more storage for cheap.A cable HD movie doesn't even come close in picture quality to Blu Ray. And to add to that, a good portion of them are just upscaled.

[Ravenas]

A cable HD movie doesn't even come close in picture quality to Blu Ray. And to add to that, a good portion of them are just upscaled.

Very true, anything seen over DD or Cable/Sat is going to be sub-HD. Wether it's good enough for you is all your opinion, however, as it stands blu-ray (and older HD-DVD movies) have the best quality.

[Steevo]

Comparing it to the output from my brothers PS3 it looked marginally better on the PS3. However as my projector does not support 1080P (only 1080I) There might be a bit more difference than I am seeing, but at all other resolutions 790P, 1080I etc ... there was not enough to warrant me shelling out the money.

[farlex85]

Blue ray has the best quality. How many people you think have 1920x1080 t.v.s? I would wager not very many. Probably like 5% or less. Blue ray will be the standard most likely, but hd televisions have to become the standard first.

[EastCoasthandle]

Panasonic introduces a $700 BR player (http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/37295/93/). It's no wonder why they aren't selling well LOL

[EastCoasthandle]

Interesting results of a sample survey of BR
source (http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableArticle.jhtml?articleID=207800191)

The high-definition DVD format war is over, but U.S. consumers remain unenthusiastic toward players supporting the winner Blu-ray, a survey showed.

Nearly seven in 10 people polled by Harris Interactive knew that Blu-ray had beaten HD DVD, and nearly a quarter of them said they had been waiting for the rivalry to play itself out before buying an HD player. By April, however, few of the respondents had actually bought a player.

Based on an online poll of more than 2,500 U.S. adults, Harris found that nearly nine in 10 people own a standard DVD player, but fewer than one in 10 reported owning devices available today for playing HD content, namely, HD DVD or Blu-ray disc players, Sony PlayStation 3, and the external HD DVD player for Microsoft's Xbox 360. These numbers are surprising, given that more than a third of consumers overall report owning an HDTV.

Furthermore, only 9% of non-Blu-ray player owners say they are likely to buy a Blu-ray disc player within the next year, even when they are made fully aware that the format is the definitive technology for players of HD content going forward, Harris found. Notably, the percentage of HDTV owners likely to buy Blu-ray players is only slightly higher at 14%. Currently, about 10% of HDTV owners also have a Blu-ray disc player.

Price could be a contributor to the lackluster response to Blu-ray. While players of the format still average above $300, standard players only cost between $80 and $150, which include an up-converter to generate a higher quality picture that older standard players.

There's also the consideration of being able to download HD videos. "While this is likely to catch on more with the technophiles than with the mass market due to the complexity of downloading, it does provide another alternative," Joan Barten Kline, VP of Harris media and entertainment practice, said in a statement released Tuesday.