Why does Universal only support HD-DVD? (1 Viewer)

[loganhunter2002]

Quick question. Would you buy HD DVD if the players were about 200-300 dollars?

 

[Douglas Monce]

Well it wouldn't be the first time that a personal grudge kept a business from expanding in to different areas. There may come a time when Universal will be forced to release on BlueRay, but at this point HD sales aren't even a blip on the corporate radar in terms of the bottom line. In 3 or 4 years that may change, but not any time soon, and a lot can happen in 3 or 4 years.

Also I think it’s WAY too early to count HD-DVD out of the race yet based on a month or two of Blueray selling a little better than HD-DVD. In a month where there have been very few HD-DVD releases, it’s hardly a basis for judging the outcome.

I think in the next few months you will probably see a very close race with Blueray taking the lead some months and HD-DVD taking the lead others depending on what movies people want. And the $200 Chinese HD-DVD players may have an effect on sales.

Honestly the only reason I haven't bought a Blueray player yes is that there are no films on Blueray that aren't also on HD-DVD that I really want.....YET.

Doug

 

[Matt Leigh]

I can't imagine that a exclusive deal with Toshiba on a billion dollar multi company format investment is an easy deal to simply get up and walk away from. If they were to go neutral there would likely be a massive financial penalty to pay.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

If you ask Universal (as I have), the official answer is because they like the ability to offer combo discs and feel that it is something that consumers want, and they like the interactivity options (which they are just scratching the surface of what they feel the format can do).

Could there be truth to any of the other theories/rumors posted here? Don't know.

 

[Jesse Blacklow]

What $200 Chinese players? I've seen no announcement for actual players or prices. At this point, using this as evidence is only slightly better than the Spielberg list and retraction.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

So how much longer are they going to hold out in Japan where BD is clearly beating HD-DVD badly? I've seen numbers close to 5:1 from Japan already.

Japan is the market I care about about. If they publish in Japan, I'll just buy the few Universal films I want from Japan (same Region code).

 

[BrettB]

I guess they're still scratching. BD-J features will be more prevelant than the HDi stuff at this rate.

 

[Austan]

Universal NBC and MSNBC... Hmmm... Maybe just maybe the answer lies some where within there...

 

[Ryan-G]

At what point is it safe to count HD-DVD out?

Movies sell players, just like games sell consoles. How is one single studio going to release sufficient material and media to counter all of the other studio's releases, an event which much happen, since if Universal can't then the sales numbers continue to skew towards BR at an increasing pace.

The format war breaks down to math, the side with the bigger numbers wins. Because the side with the bigger numbers has more shelf space, more sales, and more visibility.

There's really nothing that can save HD-DVD short of studios abandoning BR, which doesn't semm likely to occur at this point. Given the sales trends, and the hardware pricing trends that seem set to occur, not even Uni players are necessary anymore.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

They can't spend the time on every title especially considering the box office numbers. Miami Vice, Fast and Furious, had a lot of interactivity and Children of Men is supposed to have some cool features. They have some upcoming titles later this year that are going to push interactivity even further. The reason I haven't bought a Blu-Ray player yet, is I am waiting for BR Live players to be available. Current BR players won't be able to playback a lot of BR-J features on upcoming titles.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

I agree. The format to date sales are approx 1:1. Yes, HD DVD got out of the gate first, but there were only a few titles to buy during this early window. The big Blu-Ray surge has been attributed to the PS3. If you look at the installed base of players (including the PS3), Blu-Ray players outnumber HD approx 5-1, but software sales are barely 2-1 in favor of Blu-Ray. This tells me that the masses (J6P) aren't using the PS3 for movies. The #1 selling title on HD is Batman Begins (HD DVD only), and the #2 is Superman Returns (Both) where the HD DVD is outselling the Blu Ray. There has also been a lot of retail discounting of Blu-Ray software (buy one get one free, buy one take X off another) which we haven't seen with HD DVD. Also, we are still talking about an insignificant numbers on both sides which is a drop in the bucket to the studios. There is a long way to go, and I feel in the end both formats will co-exist along with HD on demand and movie downloads.

 

[Shane Martin]

Adam makes an nice point above. I think anything else is more wishful thinking and guesses to say the least.

Keep in mind this can go both ways. If HD DVD sales continue to keep pace with BR, then BR studios might be asking how they can get a piece of the HD DVD pie as well. Warner/Paramount and what appears to be Dreamworks are all getting pieces of both. New Line will probably go both as well based on any early indications.

 

[Chris Gerhard]

$200 would sure be tempting, especially if the quality is comparable to the excellent Toshiba players. I chose one for now and Blu-ray far and away has the better software selection for my tastes in both released and upcoming titles. I may be really strange with my take, but after seeing both formats, I like DVD better than ever, not because I think it is close to as good, it isn't, but because it is very good with an incredible selection of affordable software new and used. I immediately felt like yes, Blu-ray looks great, but you know, DVD isn't bad.

Chris

 

[Jeff Adkins]

You could be right about that. It remains to be seen if they can co-exist or not. I think it's possible, but I'm confident BD will not be going away.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

I couldn't agree more. I think HD DVD is not going away either, but I will agree to disagree with anyone on that point. Both formats have too much invested to throw in the towel anytime soon.

 

[LarryH]

My sentiments as well. Any quitter now will have a lot to explain to their shareholders.

But...if HD-DVD (Universal/Toshiba) doesn't get on the ball soon, a year from now I fear things may have deteriorated too far to recover. I can't imagine a realistic scenario in which BD will fold.

I just hope support for HD-DVD playback survives for many years to come, since I have over 100 disks (about 2.5 times as many as BD's).

 

[Ryan-G]

Not really, if a format isn't generating profits, then it's taking money out of some project that could. Shareholders would be happier seeing a company drop something draining cash with no hope of profit earlier rather than later.

And to be fair, personally, I put the PS3 in the same boat as HD-DVD. Good idea on paper, but with so few exclusives, dead weight for the company.

Don't get me wrong though, I don't mean BR when I say PS3.

 

[ScottHM]

For me, it's not the price of the players that's the problem, it's the disc prices. If I were to replace my entire DVD library with HD-DVD (or Blu-ray) titles, it would cost over $15,000 at current disc prices. A $200 HD-DVD player might tempt me, but it's a temptation I can't afford.

As for the topic of why Universal is supporting only one format, I would guess it's for the same reason that some other studios are supporting only one format: they believe that format holds some advantage. Having not yet bought into either Blu-ray or HD-DVD, I have no more desire for Universal to change their support than I do for Disney and Fox change theirs. I sometimes wish all studios would support both formats, let the 'war' drag on indefinately, and let me save a lot of money.

---------------

 

[Douglas Monce]

A 2 to 1 sales ratio isn't really saying much when each format isn't selling more than about 7000 units of each movie and a really big hit selling maybe 20,000 units. And at this point you can't really say that either format is successful, because they are both losing money.

Changhong Corp. and Amoi Electronics Ltd, Chinese electronics manufacturers, have announced that they are producing HD-DVD players. They are supposed to be in stores before summer. The estimated SRP is around $199.

Doug

 

[Chris Gerhard]

If the players are good quality, and I expect they will be, that will a big boost to HD DVD. If the players are junk and get in consumers hands in significant quantities, don't expect HD DVD to ever bounce back from such horrible word of mouth. Inexpensive Chinese DVD players have been hit or miss, but were $30 or so, not $200 and tossed in the trash when broken. Personally, my inexpensive Chinese DVD players are very good and we should see the same with HD DVD.

In any event, I think Blu-ray is looking better and HD DVD slipping so HD DVD needs to pick it up again.

Chris