Sony first to set prices on Blu-ray Disc titles
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Feb 8th 2006 9:07AM
posted Feb 8th 2006 9:07AM
Sony is the first major studio to announce
their pricing model for the upcoming release of their Blu-ray Disc titles. BD films fresh from the theaters should hit
the shelves for $23.45 while catalog titles will drop for $17.95, wholesale. Yeah, that's a 15-20% premium over what
new-release DVDs cost back at their '97 release but, according to Sony, it's meant to "accommodate the
sell-through and rental markets" which DVDs initially avoided since the world was beset by video rentals at the
time. But you won't see a Sony MSRP slapped to the back of their BDs. Instead they will allow retailers to set their
own margin of profit (like Amazon who lists
catalog BDs for $22.49) allowing for the invisible hand to sort it all out. Sony also plans to bundle DVD and UMD
discs in a move to boost acceptance of the UMD format. Several titiles will be offered in packages that will sell for
about $29 for both formats, compared to typical prices of about $25 for the DVD and $20 for the UMD. That's something
they (and a few notable others) are "still
working on."
Its a fair price for now. They know that Blu-Ray hasn't really penetrated the market yet, only a demographic of wealthy video/stereophiles are going to have expensive blu-ray devices, and those customer are going to be willing to pay a few dollars in premium for 1080p and ridiculous sound quality.
Keep your movies, not willing to change the datamedium every 5-10 years and pay each time more for the same limited quality content. What I can watch free in TV is plenty.
Woo! Bring on the BD players! I want one now!
I say just use an online DVD rental service. Yes you still need a suitable player, but save a fortune on changing your entire collection every 5 years!!
Are you sure about that 15-20% increase over those original prices? It took me years to notice new DVD sales drop below $25.
Dignan17
Your comparing retail prices on dvds to wholesale prices for Blu-Ray. I would bet we will see a lot of new releases on BD go for 29.99.
Well, now that Sony has made the first step and announced a pricing model it is time for Toshiba to step up to the plate and announce their LOWER prices and seal Blu-Ray's fate forever
People want Wal-Mart Pricing not specialty boutique pricing
We already know that HD-DVD players are hundreds cheaper on average then Blu-Ray players (PS3 may be the salvation there) so if HD-DVD discs are $5-10 less then Blu-Ray on the retail self..... Blu-Ray is dead in the water just like Betamax
Hey Sony, how about giving us some smaller packaging? I'd prefer to have BDs in those slimline keepcases used in TV sets.
"Keep your movies, not willing to change the datamedium every 5-10 years..."
Yeah, keep your movies, why not? How about, keep your DVDs, play them on your Blu-Ray/HD-DVD player, and buy *** N E W *** media of your choosing on one of the new formats. OMG! Who wudda thunk it? Seriously, that argument is STUPID. Who goes out and re-buys their entire media collection when a new format hits the market (especially when the new drives play the old formats)?
very nice
I think you missed the point darryl... shut your hole up, you sound like a vengeful nerd.
I've already noticed here in Canada that New Release DVD prices are creaping up and up.. I remember when you could get every new movie for $19.99 on the first day and then $21.99 every day there after until the movie was a year old.. Well now new releases are $25.99 at Futureshop and Bestbuy.. So really it feels like the retailers are trying to get me ready for the next gen if I like it or not..
ax7, darryl is on point. the only reason you would really buy a blu-ray dvd is because it will be in High-Def. Older TV shows that may be remastered in high-def are not going to be actually high-def. everything that will be released after hd-dvd and blu-ray will mostly be in high def. thats the point of a high storage capacity on the disk. if it wasnt in high def, there is no point in putting it on a blu-ray disc or hd-dvd, a standard dvd would be fine.
One reason for non-HD content on Blu-Ray, etc. is that you could fit entire seasons of TV shows on a single disc (or two) instead of four or five.
Hey - let's end the war early - Sony - just release the movies in 1080p and DTS-HD in your first releases instead of waiting a year for people to double dip. 1080p and full DTS-HD may not fit on HD DVD in it's first iteration. You'd have a hell of a leg up and that would probably get enough media attention that the war would end before anyone suffers.
I agree with what #4 said. Rent., and i must add if you like the quality of the film on the new format and think the retail price is worth replacing it, upgrade it. It's up to you.
#5; You'll be surprise but Sears still sells the majority of their DVDs for the MSRP which is around $25.00 per DVD., only a small percentage of their old titles are under $20.00. I only get the titles from them when Costco has sold out or when Wal-Mart offer the "Christianized" version of the films.
Other than that, you can't purchase DVDs there, muchless Blu-Ray or HD-DVDs, Sears will sell them at List prices which might not be what Sony claims they will sell their MGM and Columbia Pictures titles.
We still don't know if NBC/Universal, News Corp. and Viacom will follow with similar prices., that's up to the each studio to determine what price their properties should be sold.
#7 - It wouldn't matter if HD-DVD's where free, Sony learned its lessons from betamax, that content is what matters. Sony Pictures, MGM, Columbia Tristar are all owned by Sony, so you will never see those films on HD-DVD, they will only be on blu-ray. And other other studios will follow Sony's lead, especially since they want to make as much money off each blu-ray movie as possible.
Just a quick heads up from a retail employee from a large music and video chain: stores are starting to actually charge full msrp for recent releases and are lowering the msrp slightly for catalog releases. Where you used to be able to always find a dvd for 19.99, or even less if it was new, you're going to be seeing a lot of dvds selling for 29.99 a month after they come out and the sales are over. retailer profit increases are slowing, as dvd sales growth is slowing due to market penetration reaching a kind of equilibrium, and everyone's looking to make it look like sales numbers are still growing. if new releases on blu-ray are 22.45 wholesale, then you can expect first day sale price for those discs to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 25.99, going on our current level of markup on first week sale dvds. what i'm also saying is that you should expect to see them settle in at about a 34.99 regular price a month or so after release. and remember, a dvd is only catalog after it's been out for around 2 years; even old content is considered a "new release" the first day it's released on a new format.
Damn, after tax, that's over 25 bucks per movie on Blu-ray. That's a lot of money for a single movie! Especially since I can walk into just about any store and find a ton of "old release" DVDs for 10 each.
And who would pay twice for the same movie? Why buy a movie on DVD and UMD, when fair use allows you to copy your version of the DVD onto your PSP? I don't get it.
Damn, after tax, that's over 25 bucks per movie on Blu-ray. That's a lot of money for a single movie! Especially since I can walk into just about any store and find a ton of "old release" DVDs for 10 each.
And who would pay twice for the same movie? Why buy a movie on DVD and UMD, when fair use allows you to copy your version of the DVD onto your PSP? I don't get it.
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