[opendtv] Blu-ray player prices on the rise

Some folks aren't very smart. BlueRay is competing against DVD now, and
nothing else.

I think the only way for BD to become universally adopted is exactly the
same as what I always thought would be the case for HDTV or even CDs.
Which is to say, the prices of BD will have to become as low as the
prices of DVDs, or BD will not make it. That includes both the players
and the software.

The normal progression would be for DVD players and discs to gradually
drop to ridiculously low levels, and BD to quickly get down to current
DVD prices.

Speaking of which, according to the current issue of The Absolute Sound,
DVD-A and SACD are "officially dead." It's by no means a stretch to make
the same prediction here.

Bert

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http://www.digitaltvdesignline.com/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=GT1
IJDDRQHXD0QSNDLPCKHSCJUNN2JVN?articleID=206904345

March 13, 2008

Blu-ray player prices on the rise

By Antone Gonsalves

HD DVD has been dead less than four weeks, yet it appears prices already
have started to rise on DVD players supporting the surviving
high-definition format Blu-ray.

The average price in January of the top 10 Blu-ray players on
PriceGrabber.com, a comparison-shopping site, was $467. In February, the
month Toshiba said it would no longer lead the charge for HD DVD, the
average price jumped to $604.

Some of the increase was due to the introduction of expensive players
with features that went above the norm, Darren Davis, VP of product
marketing for PriceGrabber, said Thursday. Taking away that factor,
however, still left an increase between $20 and $50 on most players in
February.

Even though Blu-ray players no longer have to compete with cheaper HD
DVD devices, manufacturers would be smart to keep prices low. "Consumers
are not going to jump into the market yet," Davis said. "The demise of
HD DVD, if anything, is going to delay Blu-ray adoption, given the
increase in prices."

While raising prices could offer short-term gain for manufacturers by
squeezing more money from early adopters, it would delay adoption among
more price-sensitive mainstream consumers, Davis said.

A January survey by PriceGrabber found that consumers were turning up
their noses over high-definition DVD players less because of confusion
over the format war and more because of price. Fifty-six percent of the
respondents said they would buy a Blu-ray disc player if there were a
significant price drop. Only 19% said they were concerned about
obsolescence in buying either an HD DVD or Blu-ray player.

Yet ending confusion over the format war was the main reason Time
Warner's Warner Bros. studio threw its weight behind Blu-ray in January,
marking the end for HD DVD. Warner Bros. accounts for 20% of the DVD
market, and its defection prompted retailers, such as Wal-Mart, Best
Buy, and online video rental company Netflix, to follow.

Toshiba officially ended the format battle Feb. 19, declaring it would
no longer make or market HD DVD players and recorders. The company had
sold 1 million players and recorders worldwide, including sales for
drives for Microsoft's Xbox 360.

All material on this site Copyright 2006 CMP Media LLC. All rights
reserved
 
 
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