Tom's Hardware Pricewatch - Blu-ray Disc players from Samsung, Sony and Sharp are now the most expensive they have been all year, presumably because HD DVD's exit from the high-def disc arena has removed some of Blu-ray's pricing pressure.
With prices like that, Blu-ray ain't gonna replace DVD anytime soon. (Unless the Sony Nazi somehow think they have the right to force everyone to buy a Blu-ray player/PS3 at cutthroat prices and when people don't want it.)
Sure, the player prices will ultimately go down and hit mass market level -- BUT WHEN? Three years? Five years?
Here's the problem for Blu-ray: it's in a race against time. That's because digital download will ULTIMATELY and almost ENTIRELY replace Blu-ray -- most probably in about eight years. It's not the matter of if that'll happen. It's just a matter of when that'll happen.
So, let Blu-ray hits the mass market price level (at what the DVD currently costs) in four or five years. By then, Blu-ray will have only another two or three years of life left -- because digital download will replace Blu-ray soon (if that hasn't already happened by then.) Blu-ray only has a few years of windows of opportunity here (like about eight years.) It needs to capitalize on that short windows, quickly, before digital download takes over.
well eventually prices will come down. I think the blu ray strategy still remains keep the ps3 ahead. So in other words you won't see 300 blu ray player till you see 300 ps3.
More people watch standard dvds because there are still more people who have standard tv sets. As more people get there hd sets they will pick up there blu-ray players.
I think most consumers will buy the player no matter the cost because theyll think that its the only way to get the most out of there hd tvs.
I doubt digital downloads will be for the mass market any time soon unless it becomes vastly cheaper then getting blu-ray
if you think price does not matter for mass consumers.
Blu-ray is a NON-ESSENTIAL item. It's a LUXURY item -- it's not oil, food or water -- which means PRICE is the NUMBER ONE factor in determining if consumers are going to buy it.
PRICE is the number one determining factor when it comes to demand of non-essential, luxury items like Blu-ray (and game consoles). That's not just basic economics (in fact, it IS in most Economics 101 textbook). In fact, that's really a common sense.
i just dont see digital downloads becoming a threat any time soon... hd tvs were priced crazy high when they were first released, and now that there the standard in tvs the price has come down alot. people are going to buy blu-ray regardless of the price becasue that too will eventually drop down, just like every electronic on the market.
Companies right now are just trying to maximize there profits before prices slowly drop. You cant tell me the average consumer will know that; the price increased this past month.
My opinion differs from yours because you think digital downloads are a NEAR threat...i dont. If digital downloads do become a reality id be the first to throw my blu-ray player (ps3) in the dumpster
sorry round peg....and to no offence to anyone here or on the interwebs...but.....
The only people who think Digital Downloading is going to be "in" in the next 5 years are the geeks who spend loads of money on electronic set-ups who are capable of using said programs.
i mean, i still know people who dont have the internet...let alone broadban.
Go tell Joe that he will be ONLY downloading movies in 5 years. The notion is pretty damn silly man.
^^^ Just to be nit picky. If Joe does not have web access, chances are he wont have a HD-TV let alone the desire to buy a 400$ player. But your main point was just that DD wont take over in 5 years, which I agree with, so I'll just end my sly comment here. :)
no lasdance, the only people who think digital downloads will be here in the next 5 yrs are those who simply hate on sony. They screamed price was what mattered before, hd-dvd came down to 100 dollars at some point but was still outsold by 300 dollar hardware. Chances are, if you are buying a blu ray player at this point you are into tech and in that case a stand alone blu ray player may not make much difference to you than a ps3 especially when the ps3 is cheaper. Price is a factor to the most basic of consumers but we do still see people shelve out 400 bucks for an iphone when some companies will give you an phone for free. Blu ray prices will come down and even at a 400 dollar price tag, stand alone blu ray sales will far eclipse stand alone blu ray sales for last yr. But i believe the ps3 will drop in price before sony drops the price for their stand alone devices and then they will drop the price for stand alone blu ray, and then we will see other drop prices to stay competitive with sony
Sorry bud, but even the studios would dissagree with you about Digital DOwnloads this generation. Perhaps we will see more of it in about 10 to 15 years, but not any time soon.
Peg has a good point about price, it is the number one deciding factor. I however don't agree with digital downloads taking over anytime soon. With these prices it is DVD all the way for the meanwhile. I would never buy a games console to play movies so i am looking at standalones and they are way to expensive. I wouldn't get a PS3 for blu-ray for the same reason i didn't get the 360 add-on for HD DVDs. I have to agree with whoever said it above, i don't think someone looking for a movie player would get a PS3 for blu-ray. Someone who is at least partially interested in gaming (on a PS3) and wants blu-ray would go for a PS3 because that makes sense. But if you have no interest in gaming i can't see people going for the PS3. I was hoping that the price of the BD30 would be around $350 by the end of the year but i don't think that is going to happen. These guys seem to be taking a lesson from the oil companies on their pricing, so i say it is time to give them the big middle finger for the time being and keep buying DVDs until they get their act together.
This is what happens when a company controls a format, the hardware, the software. AKA Sony! Well folks, you are getting ready to see first had what a MONOPOLY can do to the consumer. You asked for it, you got it. ENJOY!
Dude like they said... Digital Downloads are coming in a realistic way for a LONG time. Where u can buying Blu Ray quality with all the extras and it be a seamless experience... that is mainstream. BLU RAY JUST ONE Round Pen the noob. The will lower prices but slowly. Blu Ray will probably be in PS4 and Xbox 2.5..... They can afford to take ther time.... sersioly u have to realize Disney, Sony, Samsung and the rest of EVERYONE knows what they are doing... Micrsoft thinks they have control of something or pretends they do... they just dont man. Blu Ray will be down to 250$ by the end of this year but everyone buying PS3 anyways. DUDE PS3 SALES ARE GOING TO BE HUGEEEEE THIS HOLIDAY. And grow and get bigger every year just like PS2.
just as expected... competition is good for the consumer... now that blu-ray is alone in the market...don't expect prices to go down... as matter of fact don't expec the PS3 to drop prices since it's the cheapest blu-ray player.
Funny.... and interesting... now blu-ray manufacturers are trying to raise back to their original price that HD DVD helped drop... many of them went up by $100...
now tell me... is this something good for consumers or is Sony and the other manufacturers finally getting what they wanted all along? All we cared about was one ultimate format; what about competition and pricing?
obviously there is still competition. but now it's between blu-ray manufacturers. i'm not going to buy a sony BR player if there'd a samusung player just as good but with a $100 less price tag. it's a different kind of competition but it's there.
will be between BD manufactures. maybe it wont be by that much but once one of them is able to make a less expensive BD player and pass the savings on to the consumer the others will start to drop some prices. I still dont see that happening for a while though until they start selling way more than they do now for it them to be able to afford dropping the price.
Raising prices won't give Blu-Ray the lasting appeal Sony wants it to have. They're thinking the opposite, and are making the same mistakes Micrsoft always made: Its all about the money. They're doing the opposite of what would gain Blu-Ray more momentum over DVD, and its sad how these fat bastards are too blind to know that.
Sony is obviously hoping to catch the eye of casual gamers and Wii owners with the inclusion of Blu Ray on the PS3, making it the cheapest Blu Ray player that will be upgradeable to the Live Profile later this year.
And as more Blu Ray player manufacturers start competing with one another, we'll get the normal price drop we see in every single media format from CD players to DVD players.
By that time, manufacturing cost would be much lower for both the player and media, so lowering the cost won't hurt them at all. This will be true for both the Blu Ray players and the PS3.
competition gone, means its time for consumers to start being screwed again.
oh well, makes a stronger case for DD.
my cable providers has tons of HD movies for on demand services now which is perfect for the really big action movies, and torrents for the not so great movies(ie romantic comedies for the wife, toons for the kids).
"competition gone, means its time for consumers to start being screwed again." When exactly were consumers being screwed? And how?
Digital Downloads still have a very minute adoption rate for reasons I won't get into. Also, I think you've accidentally confused Pay-Per-View and Digital Distribution of movie files onto devices with hard drives.
The blu-ray group have obviously decided that they want DVD to continue selling well, because we all know the best way to get consumers to adopt something new is to raise the price of an already expensive product :-P
The components for Blu-ray and HD-DVD players alike are pretty expensive , so they obviously can't afford to sell them below $299 at the moment. But I looked at the chart and one player in particular dropped several hundred dollars just within this year.
As expected, prices in the long run will continue to drop, just as they did with CD and DVD, and adoption rates will continue to rise. Hell, even my local blockbuster has a PS3 booth set up with a Huge HD screen showcasing the differences between DVD and Blu-ray. My step-sister was frickin' astounded.
* Panasonic: $19 LESS expensive that previous peak.
* LG: NA after $999 debut - obviously cheaper today.
* PS3: No change.
I mean come on...start complaining when they go up by $25-$50 or something. This article is just nonsense. The prices will not continue to rise, unless they all sudenly decide they don't want anyone to buy the players. These VERY SMALL hikes across some of the brands could be due to any number of things.
Hmm let's see Best Buy: Sony = $399 Sharp = $399 Pana = $499 Sammy = $399
Circuit City Same prices as BB.
hhgregg Same as BB and CC
If you buy at a retail store the prices are pretty high right now compared to a month ago. Though the price on the Sharp is down though it use to sell for $450 on avg.
Is there any confirmation that the companies has raised their prices or is it just the retailers that are doing it? Did all those companies simultaneously decide to raise their prices?
Websites like pricewatch are just unreliable and people should just ignore them.
The PS3. You get a BD player, DVD upscaler, Game machine, Web browser, Media connectivity and a way to comunitcate via video with your friends. Can't get that from a stand alone BD player so the choice is obvious.
why would you ever want the competition to die out!
The console industry is healthier than ever because it has 3 competitors trying to to 1 up each other, and this is good for us non shareholding consumers!
just imagine what the ps3 or 360s launch price would have been if they where the only console maker. $1000 US+
this will keep dvd alive for a few more years if the BD association dont change their tactics.
i mean, i know 8 years may seem like a long time to some of you folks, but i remember when DVD players were going for as much as $600, and DVDs were well in the $30 a movie range, with *NO SPECIAL FEATURES (i own a few of those early DVDs, actually).
even though DVD had *NO competition, the prices eventually came down, but they didn't come down overnight.
remember, there was *NO COMPETITION when DVD was released.
Blu Ray has been on the market for a year, but that year was absolutely overflowing with consumer indifference, due to the stupid format war.
price was most certainly an issue, but how many other pieces of technology drop down in price by nearly 75% during their *FIRST YEAR?
Blu Ray players were $1000, then $700, then $500, now $400, with $300 players on the way, and Blu Ray PC drives hitting $200 soon. all in the span of ONE YEAR.
now that the format war is officially done, the various manufacturers of Blu Ray players will begin to compete with each other.
*BUT FIRST, what do you think needs to happen as they shift their production lines from HD DVD to Blu Ray? for those manufacturers that supported both HD DVD and Blu Ray with dedicated players, they are looking to face some huge losses as they shut down their HD DVD facilities, and reboot them as Blu Ray facilities. in short, they're entering the market fresh, and that costs money.
Sony's products are *ALWAYS expensive. from their TVs, to their disc players, hell, even their damn *HEADPHONES are more expensive that other brands on the market. ever since Samsung has carved their name into the consumer electronics market, the prices of their products have gone up as well. they are very comparable to Sony now, in that when consumers see a "Sony" or "Samsung" on the box, they know that they are paying for a quality piece of consumer electronics.
the high price of Sony and Samsung products started *WAAAAY before the HD format war began, so don't try to pawn that off on Blu Ray being uncontested.
the format war was very costly to more than just the consumers that bet on the losing format, but the manufacturers that invested in the losing format as well. it doesn't surprise me one bit that they'll try and recoup some of those losses by selling their new BR players at a premium.
as for Sony, well, i guess i have to chuckle, because maybe they are being a kind of cheeky, raising the prices for the people that did *NOTHING but trash talk Sony and Blu Ray ever since it was announced, constantly touting their numerous failures with other formats in the past, and how BR was destined to fail because of this. i guess they're saying, "i told you so, and now you're going to pay a little bit for your lack of support. thems the breaks."
i mean, the only people that would be complaining about these price hikes, would be the people that didn't jump in in the beginning, and are now pissed that they have to spend even *MORE money on buying a *NEW player, because they supported HD DVD, even though the odds were stacked against it every since Sony said "we're putting a Blu Ray drive into the Playstation 3. you know the Playstation brand, don't you? the most popular gaming brand of the past 12 years? yeah, *THAT one."
but the real point i'm trying to make is that, thanks to that format war, we are still in early adopter times, now that the dust has settled and we have a winner.
there were *PLENTY of would be early adopters, and especially hardcore videophiles that were waiting it out until a winner was declared. now that there is one, they will start to adopt, and they will pay that $400 or more price for it.
now *NEXT year, which will be Blu Ray's first full year uncontested, the various manufacturers will start to utilize their cost saving measures that are being put into place this year. trust me, by the end of 2009, there will be sub $200 Blu Ray players on the market, and the format won't be relying on the PS3 to carry it anymore.
things happen in stages, guys. you can't expect new technology to hit the market at $5, and as technology progresses, it takes longer and longer to bring it down to more consumer friendly levels. of course, the current generation is more tech savvy than my parents generation (my mom is 60, and she has no real care for these sorts of things, but *ME, and my friends, who are nearing 30 now; i'll be 29 this year *DO CARE, and we are the ones spending our money on this sort of technology, as well as preparing to shoulder the country in another 5-10 years, as we come of age where we can get voted into political offices, to name only one area of influence), understand the value of such complicated technology, and are more willing to swallow a $300-$400 price than our parents, and their parents, and *THEIR parents would have.
i think some of you are confusing the video game console wars, and how competition is actually *GOOD for gaming, because the type of competition between *FORMATS is *NOT GOOD when it comes to things like movies. a central format is necessary for film, but competition doesn't get eliminated because Blu Ray is the sole format. the various manufacturers of Blu Ray players will now start to compete with their *PLAYERS, and the prices of those players will become competitive soon enough.
i mean, what's worse?
1. having to own two movie players, because studio A supports one format, and studio B supports another?
or
2. having one format, and you have *YOUR CHOICE, over what player to play the movie on, and at various prices, due to manufacturer competition?
i'd have to go with choice 2, personally. hell, i already *HAVE my Blu Ray player (PS3!), and my HDTV, so all i care about are movie releases. thankfully, they are *ALL going to be on Blu Ray in time, and i'm in no hurry. i have lots of games to play, and to look forward too also.
First comment that made good sense. Consummers expect things for free when they do not understand the cost behind production. It will take sometime for BD to come down but eventually I believe it will be the best/accessible technology available to the majority of consumers in the immediate future.
Most of those so called companys that you are talking about have long since dropped HDDVD. Get the hell out of here with this re-outfit the factories crap. They are raising their prices because for HD content there is nowhere else to go!
As for your theory of multiple formats, if that was the case why not just stick with DVD. (Non-HD movies look just fine to me.)
The reason BD prices dropped from 1000 down to 400 was because had they not, HDDVD would have kicked their ARSES. Now that HDDVD is gone, they are getting ready to give society the BONE. Stop trying to sound intelligent and understanding, you're only running your mouth because you have already bought farm.
"Next year, Next year, Next year! That seems to be the theme with you PS3 fanboys. Oh and this "first full year with out competition" I guess this is the new catch phrase.
So amazing how reasonable you guys can be as long as your ideas are the popular ones. Just Shut Up!
simply, the public wont buy into DD as there is no physical mediuim. That means i cant borrow films from my friends, i cant take the disc to my mums, and there is no shiny boxes to proudly disply in my bookcase. I have a huge libruary of songs on my computer but im not nearly as attached to that as i am to my disc based collection, even tho its more cumbersome and more hassle.....
but even then I will only rent the bluray movies. I dont buy that many DVDs as it is, I mean 15$ is alot for most movies, and at best buy I saw bluray movies selling at 30$. They should keep the prices of the players high but drop the prices of the movies. There is really no reason why the blueray version of a movie should cost twice as much as the DVD, I mean if they actualy want people to start buying blurays instead of DVDs.
With prices like that, Blu-ray ain't gonna replace DVD anytime soon. (Unless the Sony Nazi somehow think they have the right to force everyone to buy a Blu-ray player/PS3 at cutthroat prices and when people don't want it.)
Sure, the player prices will ultimately go down and hit mass market level -- BUT WHEN? Three years? Five years?
Here's the problem for Blu-ray: it's in a race against time. That's because digital download will ULTIMATELY and almost ENTIRELY replace Blu-ray -- most probably in about eight years. It's not the matter of if that'll happen. It's just a matter of when that'll happen.
So, let Blu-ray hits the mass market price level (at what the DVD currently costs) in four or five years. By then, Blu-ray will have only another two or three years of life left -- because digital download will replace Blu-ray soon (if that hasn't already happened by then.) Blu-ray only has a few years of windows of opportunity here (like about eight years.) It needs to capitalize on that short windows, quickly, before digital download takes over.
This is disgusting behavior.
I hope with oil now at $110 per barrel, people stop buying Blu-ray.
It just isn't worth it.
;O
Dude like they said... Digital Downloads are coming in a realistic way for a LONG time. Where u can buying Blu Ray quality with all the extras and it be a seamless experience... that is mainstream. BLU RAY JUST ONE Round Pen the noob. The will lower prices but slowly. Blu Ray will probably be in PS4 and Xbox 2.5..... They can afford to take ther time.... sersioly u have to realize Disney, Sony, Samsung and the rest of EVERYONE knows what they are doing... Micrsoft thinks they have control of something or pretends they do... they just dont man. Blu Ray will be down to 250$ by the end of this year but everyone buying PS3 anyways. DUDE PS3 SALES ARE GOING TO BE HUGEEEEE THIS HOLIDAY. And grow and get bigger every year just like PS2.
It seriously is happening all over again.
just as expected... competition is good for the consumer... now that blu-ray is alone in the market...don't expect prices to go down... as matter of fact don't expec the PS3 to drop prices since it's the cheapest blu-ray player.
Funny.... and interesting... now blu-ray manufacturers are trying to raise back to their original price that HD DVD helped drop... many of them went up by $100...