Blu-rayAdoption
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Editor ponders: Do you need a Blu-ray player?
Right, so the obvious answer here is: "No, you don't need a Blu-ray player." But, you know -- do you need a Blu-ray player? At its core, the latest argument put forth by an Orlando Sentinel editor is yet another debate over the viability of the format in comparison to upscaled DVD and in the wake of surging support for HD streaming, but there are certainly a lot of points made that we vehemently disagree with. According to the editor, the "difference between DVD and Blu-ray is nowhere near as striking [as VHS and DVD], despite what the consumer electronics retailers and manufacturers might tell you." He goes on to assert that a BD player simply isn't worth purchasing if you've already got a stout DVD library, particularly if you own an upconverting DVD player. Ruining any shot at anyone taking his view seriously were the remarks by his colleague, who watched Planet of the Apes on a BD deck and a $40 DVD player; according to him: "The features are fancier, but the picture? No improvement. Investing in a [Blu-ray] player... is a needless expense. Downloads are the future, not discs in a cute blue box." Let the firefight begin.[Thanks, Anthony]
Sony sees PlayStation 3 sales skyrocket 56%, Blu-ray a factor?
Despite the weakening economy, video game sales across the board have remained impressively high. Now that each of the big three have reported their Q3 figures, we found Sony's report in particular worthy of critique. Sure, Nintendo moved more Wiis last quarter than Sony did PS3s, and Microsoft sold about twice as many Xbox 360s, but that's beside the point. The most expensive console on the market (by far) still managed to see a 56% sales increase year-over-year, which is pretty remarkable in and of itself. We've no hard evidence suggesting that Blu-ray's victory in the format war helped escalate its sales, but would you be willing to bet that it did? C'mon, the PS3 was widely regarded as the best Blu-ray player in its price range for a solid while there, surely that helped out Sony somewhat -- no? Chime in with your analysis below.
Blu-ray player price cuts not spurring huge sales... yet
What do you know, more number games with Blu-ray. The latest report asserts that Blu-ray players, in general, aren't moving any quicker of late even after dropping between $200 and $300. For instance, Texas superstore Bjorn's and Pennsylvania-based Gerhard Appliances "saw no sales change after Sony and Samsung cut $100 off their respective BDP-S350 and BD-P1500 models to $299 at the end of September." Granted, year-to-date BD sales in the aforesaid price range comprised 17% of all BD decks compared to just 9% for that same window through July. Also (and probably more importantly), it's suggested that consumers will finally move in a big way once the bulk of players sink below $200. Of course, we've been hearing similar for quite some time, but now that Black Friday is but days away, we're finally close to finding out who's right in all of this.[Image courtesy of 360East]
Singulus CEO predicts Blu-ray machine delivery peak in 5 to 6 years
Sony's Rick Clancy spared no mercy when bashing claims that Blu-ray would be old hat within five years, but now we're seeing yet another bigwig predict a similar fate. Singulus, a German company responsible for pumping out Blu-ray duplicators and the like, has recently spoken up via its CEO to suggest that Blu-ray will peak (in terms of delivery of Blu-ray machines) within five to six years. Additionally, CEO Stefan Baustert suggested that the BD market will grow somewhat in 2009, and he boldly predicted that 50% of US households will own a Blu-ray player within two years; of note, he said the same level of penetration wouldn't occur in Germany before 2011 or 2012. Oh sure, it's not like this guy's a clairvoyant or anything, but we'd suspect he knows his business pretty well.[Image courtesy of The Master Shake Signal]
Poll: Has "the economy" shaken your HD purchase plans?
With all this talk about how the current economic situation is hindering / helping at-home entertainment sales, we figured we'd pose the question to our dear readers. Are you currently feeling the squeeze? So much so that you're scaling back your HD-related purchases? With Black Friday just around the bend, we know it'll be mighty hard to keep the plastic holstered, so we're eager to see if you'll be taking advantage of the downturn to snag a good deal or sitting pretty on the sidelines waiting for brighter days.[Image courtesy of GreenLantern] %Poll-22036%
ABI Research points out the obvious: Blu-ray prices prices heading downward
Man, what a difference 1.75 months makes. In mid-September, the BDA actually admitted that Blu-ray player prices weren't going to be sinking anytime soon; fast forward to now, and we've already got a smattering of sub-$200 decks to choose from. That being the case, ABI Research has just pushed out a new release that points out the obvious, noting that "competitive pressure from movie download services, and media speculation about the future success of the Blu-ray format itself has resulted in falling Blu-ray player prices across a range of current and older models." Unfortunately, there aren't any hints in there of just how low prices will go on Black Friday and during the run-up to the end of December, but trust us, we looked.
Plexifilm postpones Wilco Blu-ray release after band discourages fans from purchasing
Um, wow? Here's one right out of left field. As the story goes, Plexifilm was intent on re-releasing a 2002 documentary of the band Wilco titled "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" on Blu-ray Disc. After getting wind of this pretty late in the game, Wilco decided to e-mail its fans with new tour dates and to discourage them from buying the BD version. Why? According to the band, the Blu-ray version costs nearly twice as much as the DVD, and given that it was originally shot in "grainy, 16mm black and white," the band doubted the value for this particular project. Additionally, the band never heard that the audio was being remastered, which obviously contributed to their feelings on the matter. Plexifilm has made clear that it's postponing the release until it can "show the band the differences between the HD and standard-definition versions."[Via LA Times, thanks Anthony]
Research sez economic troubles will increase at-home entertainment sales
We hate to point out the obvious, but new "research" from Futuresource over in the UK is bringing to light the fact that many will opt for at-home entertainment versus going out on the town or perishing from boredom during this economic quandary we're currently working through. Amazing, right? According to Sarah Carroll, Director of Strategy & Continuous Services at the aforementioned firm, she reckons that individuals will go out and "purchase hot new electronics items like Blu-ray players, flat-panel TVs or smartphones" rather than dining by candlelight or going on vacation. In somewhat more interesting news, the report projects that the growth of Blu-ray in Europe's top five markets will "more than triple" between 2008 and 2009, reaching in excess of 1.8 million players shipped (Sony's PS3 notwithstanding) next year. As always, only time will tell.[Image courtesy of AT&T]
Blu-ray surpasses 30% of all DVD recorder / player shipments in Japan
We knew Japan was warming to Blu-ray, but apparently those tepid desires have morphed into infernos of passion. According to new statistics loosed by the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA), Blu-ray Disc recorder / player shipments hit a level of 138,000, or around 107 times more than the shipments posted a year ago. Moreover, those shipments accounted for 31% of "overall shipments of DVD equipment on a volume basis." Unsurprisingly, BD equipment -- coupled with flat-panel TVs -- were the two biggest drivers of consumer electronics shipments in Japan this year, with visual equipment shipments rising 8.2% year-over-year. Blu-ray and HDTV: a match made in heaven. Or Tokyo.[Image courtesy of TVSnob]
Analyst predicts "dramatic" drop in Blu-ray sales during Q4
You know how this game works by now -- someone says one thing, someone else says another. After hearing the Blu-ray Disc Association assert that Blu-ray wares would be flying off of store shelves this holiday season, in steps technology analyst Roger Kay to say otherwise. In fact, he predicts a "dramatic" drop in Blu-ray sales for Q4 and beyond, suggesting that consumers will choose to hold tight to their hard-earned dollars rather than spend it on a format that's still noticeably more expensive than DVD. As if that weren't enough, he also insinuated that the push back in adoption could allow "other forms of video over cable, satellite and the internet to shut the window of opportunity for Blu-ray." Of course, we've heard this whole physical media versus digital downloads debate before, but we don't exactly see a poor sales season (if there is one) as being enough to catapult digital downloads in front of BD. Regardless, we'll be anxious to see the numbers in early 2009, but for now, it certainly provides interesting fodder for discussion.[Image courtesy of Syracuse]
Blu-ray Disc sales up 396% year to date in UK
Looking for candidness? We aren't too sure we believe these numbers, but a new writeup from Hollywood Reporter has it that Blu-ray Disc sales in the United Kingdom are up a mind-melting 396% for the year to date. Yep, 1.5 million units have been moved, which -- if accurate -- gives a clear indication of just how quickly consumers on that side of the pond are siding with Blu in this post-format war world. Purportedly, the figures were derived from the British Video Association, and the report with this nugget also had data regarding the upward trends in both DVD sales and theater attendance. But hey, when there's all of five or so HD channels to watch, it's not too shocking to see citizens get their high-def fix via another method.[Via GameFocus, image courtesy of WikInvest]
Blu-ray player prices dropped 12% in Q3, still in just 1.7% of US homes
Here are a few more numbers to chew on as you try to decipher what's really going on in the world of Blu. During Q3 2008, Blu-ray player prices on the whole slipped 12% to an average of $350. While that may sound pretty good to you, just 1.7% of American homes posses a standalone Blu-ray deck. Of course, that number leaves out the legions of PS3 owners who gleefully enjoy BD flicks on their Sony-branded console, but it still pales in comparison to the 26% of US homes that currently have HDTV from a cable or satellite provider. The figures, which were quoted in a recent Wall Street Journal article, are used to assert that BD still hasn't "arrived" here on US soil, and for most, HD programming or vanilla DVDs are just fine. Our take? Well, we can't argue the numbers, but we're giddy to see how they change after Black Friday 2008 (and the holiday season) takes its toll.
Apple's Steve Jobs calls Blu-ray "a bag of hurt"
Straight from El Jobso's mouth at today's notebook keynote: "Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt. It's great to watch the movies, but the licensing of the tech is so complex, we're waiting till things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace." Phil chimed in with "We have the best HD movie and TV options in iTunes." Damn. As if that weren't enough to make Mac-lovin' home theater junkies cringe, Steve also commented (when asked about the dearth of HDMI in his introductions) that HDMI was "limited in resolution," and Philip Schiller elaborated by saying that "for typical computer use, DisplayPort is the connector of the future." So, does that mean we can't count on Blu-ray support in OS X 10.5.6?
BDA unsurprisingly bullish for holiday season
Given that Iron Man just crushed every other Blu-ray sales record set before it, not to mention the fact that sub-$200 BD decks are finally upon us, we can't say we're flabbergasted by the Blu-ray Disc Association's most recent comments. Victor Matsuda, Chairman of the BDA Global Promotions Committee, was recently quoted as saying that "[the BDA] has good reason to predict that this Q4 sales period will see the Blu-ray Disc revolution take hold in US mainstream markets and [that it] will witness strong sales performance in every other geographical region." Comically enough, he also stated that "the availability of affordable players is an important factor," which contrasts pretty starkly with comments made by the BDA just weeks ago. Not that we're complaining about lower prices or anything...[Via Pocket-lint, image courtesy of Photobucket]
Poll: Are $200 Blu-ray players cheap enough for you?
We won't go so far as to say that this week has been monumental or anything, but we're starting to see Blu-ray player prices (on the whole) inching downward. For starters, two aged BD decks broke the $200 mark this week, and even a few new players are getting MSRPs far lower than what we're accustomed to seeing. We've big hopes for player prices on Black Friday, and even bigger dreams for the run-up to the end of 2008, but given the current market scenario, is $200 low enough for you to finally buy in? How does that compare to your buy-in price for DVD / VHS? Do players still need to drop even lower before the population at large starts sinking their cash into the Blu? Sound off in comments below.[Image courtesy of Electronic House] %Poll-20264%
BDA sez Blu-ray player prices aren't sinking anytime soon
More news from the DisplaySearch / NPD HDTV conference out in California, and this time it's from the Blu-ray Disc Association. Andy Parsons, the BDA's chairman, told attendees that Blu-ray player and disc pricing were behaving the same way as when DVD was the hot new thing. Parsons noted that "there [wasn't] enough market volume to lower prices," adding that firms first have to "build awareness and demand for the technology" before stickers can shrink. Granted, this opens the whole "chicken before the egg" debate, with pundits asserting that awareness and demand won't build until prices are low enough to be digested by the masses. Also of note, Andy suggested that consumers still wanted something "they could hold in their hands" when asked about the threat of digital downloads, but then again, would you really expect to hear anything different?
DisplaySearch forecasts skyrocketing sales of standalone Blu-ray players
Out of seemingly nowhere, DisplaySearch has became way hot on Blu-ray. At a recent conference in Hollywood, the research firm reportedly announced its expectations that "global unit sales of standalone Blu-ray players will triple this year and will double next year as prices fall, more titles are released and a larger percentage of the population own high-definition TVs." As for numbers, that's 2.38 million BD decks this year and 5.31 million in 2009, which means Sony's PS3 would no longer be the biggest selling Blu-ray player by 2010. Look, we'd love for Blu-ray adoption to suddenly get off the ground and soar, but as if it hasn't been restated enough, we simply can't see it happening without at least a few sub-$200 players on the market. Guess we'll see soon enough, huh?
Netflix CFO doesn't anticipate Blu-ray to greatly impact sales
We've already heard Netflix CEO Reed Hastings say that the firm's DVD business was still good for the next decade, but CFO Barry McCarthy clarified its position on the sector by touching on Blu-ray adoption and online streaming. When asked about the significance of BD on its business, the exec casually replied that he "didn't anticipate a big impact," noting that thus far "consumer adoption has been slow." His sentiments match pretty well with sales figures, and until player prices dip into the sub-$200 realm, we don't see the situation changing much. Regarding online streaming, he asserted that its service would "outpace competing services such as Amazon.com's video-on-demand offering despite a smaller inventory of titles," and in fact, it would be used as a key ingredient for hooking new subscribers. Read the whole spill in the link below.[Image courtesy of P2P-Weblog]
Another research firm asserts that BDs will overtake DVDs in 2012
Hey, Futuresource Consulting -- tell us something we didn't already know, why don'tcha? All jesting aside, said firm has become the second this year to find that Blu-ray Disc sales will likely outpace DVD sales in around four years. Granted, the report also asserts that a $250 BD player will be on shelves by the end of this year, so we can't help but drink whatever Kool-Aid it's sippin'. If you're interested in boring yourself with the same assumptions we've already heard, check out the PDF in the read link below.[Via US News]
Asia-Pacific Sony VP suggests Blu-ray Discs will outsell DVDs by 2011
Gettin' antsy, are we Sony? Barely a month after the Entertainment Merchants Association pumped out a report suggesting that Blu-ray Disc sales could exceed that of DVDs by 2012, along comes a bullish Sony VP from the Asia-Pacific region to state otherwise. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's Tim Meade has asserted that the "sales volume of BD movie discs may surpass that of DVDs in 2011," following market reports in the US that indicate that the "global sales ratio of Blu-ray movie discs to DVDs will rise to an estimated 40:60 in 2010." Can't knock a guy for being hopeful, right?
