Blu-ray player sales are falling!

[i30krab]

Originally Posted by wes

You are welcome, I think Blu Ray manufacturer will drop the prices soon, the question is when will the Studio do the same?

I saw iRobot on DVD for $10 at Costco $27 for Blu Ray!!!

Yeah right, I'm going to pay $27.00 + tax for a BR movie.
Of course even if the price is $27, in a few years it may seem like a bargain if inflation takes off 1970's style.

[pat@ultramedia.biz]

The main problem I have as a custom reseller with Blu-ray players right now is there are no players to be had with the exception of the BDP-301 at Costco sometimes. At least here in Texas. I have only received 6 total players since Jan 5th from any manufacture. 4 of these where the excellent Denon DVD3800BDCI. Finally a decent machine to install for client's who care about quality first and price second. We are in a strange market right now. Everyone complains about the economy and the prices of everything and when you want to go buy anything of quality the manufactures are out of stock. Pioneer comes to mind. Try to find a Blu-ray or plasma from them anywhere. They have been sold out for months and wonder why their profits are down.
I agree on the download video format. It will eventually be the only way to buy content. Apple is great and works beautifully if you are 100% Apple. Mac Computer, iPhone and iPod works very well together. Vudu is a much better choice for the non-Mac owners and has already signed agreements with major audio manufactures to allow one machine to share data with another which has been a major stumbling block for this format. The Windows Media HD format has the highest quality picture and audio possible with the launch of VideoGiants. These formats and their contracts with the Hollywood studios is why you can no longer store pay-per-view downloads on your cable or satellite DVR's.
I'm don't believe Sony has any reason to help HD-DVD owners other than good will. Both Sony and Toshiba offered Warner a lot of money to choose one format. Warner chose and here we are. Toshiba knew they where in a bad position when Microsoft decided not to integrate HD-DVD players into the X-box. For whatever reason the owners of Sony's PS-3 where the one's asking the porn industry for HD-discs. But that dirty little secret is another topic not to be discussed.

[rex]

Is it safe then to say that the drop in sales during Feb and Mar was due to unavailability, rather reduced demand?
Maybe the brisk sales during the Christmas season and January outpaced the supply chain? Surely manufacturers were leery of having excess inventory given uncertain demand and newer models on the way.

[kennyt]

Originally Posted by pat@ultramedia.biz

For whatever reason the owners of Sony's PS-3 where the one's asking the porn industry for HD-discs. But that dirty little secret is another topic not to be discussed.

Not quite, I did a story on just this issue a few months back;

http://www.avrev.com/home-theater-ne...he-future.html

The porn industry is torn over the new media, large studios like DP and Vivid are making hi def porn, I still keep in touch with DP who has been constantly adding Blu-ray discs to their catalog. They had initially started out doing HD DVD as it was/is a little cheaper to do and Sony initially refused to copy any porn but replicators are in the private sector now so that is irrelevant.

[pat@ultramedia.biz]

Ken I agree with you. The high-res of HD actually makes it much more expensive for both Hollywood and the porn industry to keep the fantasy of movies more realistic. The main reason I am told that they love about the Blu-ray format is the interactivity between the viewer and the actress/actor. From making the viewer almost a director of sorts all the way to the 'sensor' suits that are under development. The escape from reality and the huge $$'s people are willing to pay for that escape, especially in 'bad' economic times, will drive all of the creative technologies at a ever faster rate. Many will fail and early adopters will always want the next new thing. The masses will follow the winners.

Rex, that is my assumption from my perspective but there are so many factors it is hard to know the full truth about much anymore.

[pat@ultramedia.biz]

check this out.
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20080502PB200.html
X-box with built-in Blu-ray drives by the end of the year?