HD Disc Format War Not Over By a Long Shot

[bootman]

Originally Posted by PRO-630HD

Okay I just read the Panny dmp-bd50 is supposed to be around $1000. You have got to be F$%^*&G kidding me. An extra $500 for a ethernet port and 1gb of persistent storage.

It just got released in Europe with prices starting at $599 euros.
The US price was announced at CES for $599US.

This is where the confusion comes from.

The current player lists for $499 so a list of $599 for this one seems about right.
This means it should be available for about $475 or so via discount channels.
Heck, I only paid $375 for the BD30 directly from Panasonic so I should be able to get the 50 at a similar discount.

Not everyone here pays retail right?

[PRO-630HD]

CES didn't release a price. In europe I have read the price is $999 euros. If it is $599 I will quit my bitching.

[AudAdv]

Originally Posted by mikulakerr

Regarding Netflix's decision to go exclusively with Blu-Ray: Ten minutes after I received their e-mail...I had become a happy member of Blockbuster's online video rental. I suggest that all Netflix customers who own an HD DVD player do likewise. One can only wonder how much money was exchanged under the table to get Netflix to do this.

So the HD camp paying Paramount $150 million for exclusivity is ok, but the Blu-Ray guys paying Netflix isn't?

And who's to say Netflix didn't just see the writing on the wall, which you seem to be missing.

It's over. Sell you player and movies to someone who refuses to admit it, or buy a backup cheap while you still can.

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by bootman

It just got released in Europe with prices starting at $599 euros.
The US price was announced at CES for $599US.

This is where the confusion comes from.

The current player lists for $499 so a list of $599 for this one seems about right.
This means it should be available for about $475 or so via discount channels.
Heck, I only paid $375 for the BD30 directly from Panasonic so I should be able to get the 50 at a similar discount.

Not everyone here pays retail right?

I don't think you know the price. It's $1199 euro MSRP. If someone is selling it for $599 people better buy it.

[TheMoose]

Well hd-dvd took a downturn in this weeks numbers 81% Blu to 19% hd-dvd.
Even with the continuing BOGO sale at Amazon.

Also The Hollywood reporter is saying

Toshiba to drop HD DVD, sources say

Toshiba is widely expected to pull the plug on its HD DVD format sometime in the coming weeks, reliable industry sources say, after a rash of retail defections that followed Warner Home Video's announcement in early January that it would support only the rival Blu-ray Disc format after May.
Officially, no decision has been made, insists Jodi Sally, vp of marketing for Toshiba America Consumer Products. "Based on its technological advancements, we continue to believe HD DVD is the best format for consumers, given the value and consistent quality inherent in our player offerings," she said.

But she hinted that something's in the air. "Given the market developments in the past month," she said, "Toshiba will continue to study the market impact and the value proposition for consumers, particularly in light of our recent price reductions on all HD DVD players."


Toshiba had been pitching its discounted HD DVD players toward the standard DVD crowd as well as high-def enthusiasts, noting in its ad message that the new players would make DVDs look a lot better as well. And as a last-ditch effort, the company ran an ad during the Super Bowl -- a 30-second spot that reportedly cost $2.7 million.

But in the end, sources say, the substantial loss Toshiba is incurring with each HD DVD player sold -- a figure sources say could be as high as several hundred dollars -- coupled with a series of high-profile retail defections has driven the company to at last concede defeat.

It does seem the end could be near

Reuters & the Washington post have picked up this story too as have Gizmodo & Engadget.

[Vinyl Rules!]

Originally Posted by jpcos

I know it varies for everyone, but $400 is the high end of what I'd consider paying for a player in 2008.

I'm sure this will tick some people off, but with this week's news and the current state of Blu-ray players, I'm probably going to forgo the Blu-ray player in favor of an Apple TV at this time. With that and Comcast On Demand I'm going to see how enjoyment and expenses go without physical media and more of a pay-per-use model.

With hundreds of SD and HD DVDs on the shelf, many unopened, I'm thinking that it'll be interesting to have access to the variety that these services will provide without the expanding need for shelf space and the limited library. Other than the $230 for the Apple box, I'll be spending a whole lot less money.

Maybe in a year or two there will be real value in a Blu-ray player. I'm sure since I'm and HD DVD owner, this will seem like sour grapes, but I'm just tired of the whole software cost/availability and the hardware issues. If it really is about the content, these services will be delivering much more in a more convenient fashion. Don't even have to leave the house or wait for delivery through the mail.

This is why I keep saying the debate about which hardware format is irrelevant.

The money is in the software and the studios want to deliver it least expensive way possible.

Electrons don't cost anything to mail.

Blue-Ray may possibly have won the battle but who cares except for the hardware manufacturers? And the studios don't give a rat's tutu about them, anyway.

The mass market, not the tweaks like us, are where the studios will make their $$$ and they will make MUCH more money on SD and HD downloads and VOD, not in selling silver discs to a select few tweaks.