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Originally Posted by Paul Arnette
I completely understand this sentiment, and I don't begrudge anyone from feeling this way and acting accordingly. However, as Jari stated there are those of who would just like to see this war end; and, again, I understand that sentiment, especially so because it mirrors my own, and I don't begrude anyone feeling that way or acting accordingly either.
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Originally Posted by RobertSiegel
Let's be real for a moment. The A35 is only priced at $299 because of a very very very very very very very desparate Toshiba, and we all know it. These players would never have come down to that price level so soon otherwise. I don't accept these comparisons to the prices of a blu-ray player, which will soon have 75-80% of the market for software and there is much more of a guarantee that you can buy movies on the format a year from now. What promises can the hd-dvd side now make for software support to go along with their new low prices and supreme interactivity that will make the consumer feel comfortable with their purchase? And take a look at the schedule of releases for hd-dvd in the next 4-5 months, it's got very few big Hollywood hits.
With Blu-ray winning all 52 weeks of 2007, there are 2 comments I see posted all the time that I now find very tiresome. One is that people that buy the game machine don't buy movies. If that's the case, then blu-ray would have lost every week because according to Toshiba, there are many more hd-dvd players in the market. I have sold many many PS3 machines to be used only as movie players, usually the $399 model. We sell more of the 80gb to gamers, and many of them do end up buying a few movies before leaving with their new PS3, but not all. The fact that some people say otherwise are not actually selling them like I am and get a chance to talk to every person buying one. The second is the fact that Toshiba players have been fully interactive and have internet connectivity since day 1. This is very true and I admit a big mistake on the part of the BDA not to mandate these features for every player, at least since the fall of last year. But with all this interactivity and internet connectivity for hd-dvd, why didn't the format win if so many people had to have those features and the format was so much better because of them and because of the lower prices too? You would think there would have been no wins for blu-ray at all due to what I see people posting here as failure to release a decent player. So I don't accept these comparisons anymore when the final figures show the format without those features during most of 2007 won every week of the year. Working at the video department at Best Buy I assure you there are very few people who care about watching a running commentary while the movie is playing, and there is an equally small number of people who care about connecting to the internet with their movie players. Most customers want to watch a good high def movie on their expensive hdtv set, period. I have not lost many sales at all due to the fact that there is no 1.1 or 2.0. And yes, I tell every customer about this issue because I want no one coming back in to bitch at me for not telling them, and I havn't had a one...I tell them which studios support which format, and believe me when they hear where Disney sits along with the Warner switch, we have had trouble pushing these Toshiba players out the door at their new lower prices. Some come in because they heard of the reduction but when they learn about the studio support after May they close their wallets. From the retail stand-point in our store, the prices were a great move but too little too late, the Warner news had already been pushed heavily, and most salespeople at any store know this and good salespeople are obligated to tell a customer choosing a player and choosing a format what the chances are that they will be able to buy a good percentage of Hollywood hits in the future. If we did not tell them, we would have some very angry people coming back to haunt us. |
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Originally Posted by Stephen_J_H
Nice analogy. I used to drive a Chev Aveo 5, which is "gifted" with the world's smallest hatchback if you don't put the rear seats down. My current car has a much bigger hatch. I'm not buying into Blu-Ray until a Panny BD50 can be had for a reasonable price (under $300).
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Originally Posted by Douglas Monce
I'm leaning toward the BD50 also, but I'm willing to go to $500 or so.
Doug |
| Apple has "just" 6% of the PC market. Hell, at one point they had less than 3%. Yet, they continue to be one of the most profitable and innovative companies on the face of the planet. Does anyone here think Apple is going out of business anytime soon? As long as even a SINGLE major studio supports HD DVD to the exclusion of Blu-ray, there will be a market for HD DVD players. And, with HD DVD players fast approaching the sub-$100 price point (should happen within a month or two), and with those lower prices generating even MORE sales of HD DVD players, the installed base of HD DVD players just keeps getting bigger! |
| I'm leaning toward the BD50 also, but I'm willing to go to $500 or so. Doug Me too. If it's completely up to date, that is. |
| As long as even a SINGLE major studio supports HD DVD to the exclusion of Blu-ray |
| Odd how you can win a war with underdeveloped weapons, huh? |
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Originally Posted by Dennis Nicholls
Quote:
The Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs were technologically crude and "underdeveloped" too. But they not only worked but gave a preview of the time when small deliverable nukes would proliferate. |
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Originally Posted by Carlo Medina
Imagine if Apple couldn't run MS Office, didn't have Adobe on board, and only had one or two A/V software as their supporters. Apple would have gone the way of the dodo.
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Originally Posted by Mark Booth
Look at Amazon's top DVD player sales rankings since Toshiba lowered the prices. The Toshiba A3 and A30 have been #1 and #2 (among ALL types of DVD players) since the announcement. The A35 isn't far behind and all three of them are ranked higher than the closest Blu-ray standalone. This, almost two week after Warner's announcement.
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Originally Posted by Carlo Medina
As an Apple fanatic, I find this analogy inappropriate. Apple hardware may be 6% of the market, but they have software support to compete with PC (MS Office is available, Adobe is on board, killer first party apps, etc.). However Apple also exceeds Windows in many audio/visual programs. That's why Apple remains viable, because software wise they can match/exceed Windows on many fronts.
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Originally Posted by Carlo Medina
You say only a single major studio is enough to create a market and I disagree. In that scenario (single studio) only about 15% of movies would come out on HD-DVD. Consumers will not opt for a format with so little software. Imagine if Apple couldn't run MS Office, didn't have Adobe on board, and only had one or two A/V software as their supporters. Apple would have gone the way of the dodo.
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Originally Posted by Carlo Medina
Even Laserdisc, which had probably 5-10% market share, had the support of most if not all major studios to keep it viable. How would LD have fared if only Universal or Paramount movies came out for it?
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Originally Posted by Mark Booth
As long as even a SINGLE major studio supports HD DVD to the exclusion of Blu-ray, there will be a market for HD DVD players. And, with HD DVD players fast approaching the sub-$100 price point (should happen within a month or two), and with those lower prices generating even MORE sales of HD DVD players, the installed base of HD DVD players just keeps getting bigger! |
| Sure, I´m also "format neutral" first (since I don´t want to miss any films), but I still admit that I would wish that the war would end and we would have "one HD-format" (at this point it seems that it´ll be Blu-ray). |
| Look at Amazon's top DVD player sales rankings since Toshiba lowered the prices. The Toshiba A3 and A30 have been #1 and #2 (among ALL types of DVD players) since the announcement. The A35 isn't far behind and all three of them are ranked higher than the closest Blu-ray standalone. This, almost two week after Warner's announcement. |
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Originally Posted by Todd H
Amazon.com: DVD Players & Recorders: DVD Players, DVD Recorders, DVD-VCR & Other DVD Combos, Dvd Player Products & More
Here's the list of DVD players and Recorders sorted by bestselling and the highest ranked HD DVD player is the HD-A2 at #31. The highest ranked Blu-ray players are the Panasonic BD30 at #8, the Samsung BD1400 at #10, the Sharp BDHP20U at #23, and the Sony BDP-S500 at #26. Not seeing where you're getting your rankings from. |
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Originally Posted by Jari K
. We need the masses behind the HD-concept, this is not some A/V buffs own special playground.
( = ) |
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Originally Posted by Sanjay Gupta
Looks like Warner's announcement has already had it's desired effect on HD software sales. According to an analysis of Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales numbers by the Home Media Magazine’s market research department, for the first time since Neilsen has been tracking HD sales, Blu-Ray held all the top ten spots on the HD sales chart for this past week. Also Blu-Ray held a 85% share of the HD sales for the week, which is the largest share it has ever had in any week since the very begining of this war.
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Originally Posted by Brandon Conway
Universal and Paramount are releasing 3 titles over the next 7 weeks.
3 It's about to get really ugly in the sales numbers.... |
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Originally Posted by Mark Booth
RE: The Apple analogy
My point was, a lot of folks counted Apple out a long time ago. They turned out to be completely wrong. WAY wrong! |
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Originally Posted by Jason Seaver
Well, I wouldn't be ready to conclude that Amazon is a representative sample. Blu-ray still has a much larger presence in retail stores, and unless Toshiba raises their profile by a lot, those players are going to be great values that nobody knows about, and still might not drive software sales enough to make it worth the other studios' while to support the format.
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Originally Posted by Mike Frezon
I can't figure the "new release" schedule in January has been much help at all for HD-DVD sales figures
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