HD DVD about to fight back...

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by akbungle

Hey Lotus I thought you were all done with this format war stuff and behind Blu to actually have a chance.

I want the war over like the next guy. However I'm severely disappointed in the BD companies.

$400 obsolete players? Telling me that the 2.0 Panasonic MIGHT sell for as much as $800?!?!?

That's BS. No other way to put it. For consumers it appears HD-DVD was good for something: driving costs down.

[PRO-630HD]

Another thing we know that the format war has caused growth in the HDM market above that of DVD during the same time period in it's infancy. Think about it, DVD was applicable to 100% of the market compared to 33% like HDM and HDM is ahead of the power curve.

Do you think without hddvd bluray players would have got anywhere near $300. It wouldn't have happened. The first sub $1000 player we saw was the Sony BDP-S300 at $599 and then dropped to $499 shortly after launch to compete with hddvd. Now obsolete and discontinued the Sony and Samsung players are back up to $399.

Funny now that Bluray has Warner the 5 free disc deal is gone. Why did it start? To compete with the 5 free movie deal from hddvd.

Say goodbye to the BOGO that the BDA used to outsell hddvd discs all last year.

If hddvd keels over tomorrow my prediction is HDM growth over the next year will slow compared to the growth of dvd over high prices. I also predict the cheapest 1.1 compliant player next Xmas goes for $399.

[PRO-630HD]

Originally Posted by akbungle

Dumb because when they get to the stores sales people will say well if you want useless (feel free to use the word unnecessary if it helps you) extra features and just under 30% selection (and oh under their breath make me and my company next to nothing in profit) than by all means get the HD DVD.

If PIP is so useless why is it mandatory on every bluray player to be introduced from here forward.

[prerich]

Originally Posted by akbungle

Hey Lotus I thought you were all done with this format war stuff and behind Blu to actually have a chance.

That doesn't sound like Lotus is Pro-hd-dvd, he actually sounds neutral. You don't have to be pro-PS3 to be pro-BD. I love my BD but I'm not a fan of PS3 (nice machine and all, but a gaming box doing everything? Evil).

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by PRO-630HD

Say goodbye to the BOGO that the BDA used to outsell hddvd discs all last year.

If hddvd keels over tomorrow my prediction is HDM growth over the next year will slow compared to the growth of dvd over high prices. I also predict the cheapest 1.1 compliant player next Xmas goes for $399.

It's already happening. Once the "Get a free BD player with TV purchase," is completely over the sales of BD players will be back to around 10,000 a week which is not good at all.

[DaViD Boulet]

630,

no one is saying that low-cost HD DVD hardware hasn't helped kick-start the price-fall for HDM hardware on both sides. That's one of the (few) positives to have come out of a "war". And moviing forward BD hardware prices will continue to fall just like DVD player prices fell even without another 5" disc format to compete with.

Moose, the PS3 is a Gaming Console. Quit trying to convince the entire world that it's a BD Player only. Watch the commercial and then complain to them. Also it's no different than people posting pie charts showing BD winning when their players were being given away for free or pointing to pie charts where BD software is outselling HD-DVD but not showing the numbers that show just how poorly they're both doing in software sales.

And more consumers watch Blu-ray movies on that gaming machine than they do on stand-alones from either camp. So it's obviously a sword that cuts both ways. Suggesting that it's a significant contributor to the BD-movie-playback consumer experience isn't saying that it's a "BD Player only": it's just stating a fact.

Also, sales for HDM software are ahead of DVD software sales at this point in DVDs life cycle. That's a good thing for HDM. Once the format war is laid to rest in the market (ie, Brick and Mortor stores) sales will see some profound growth.

If hddvd keels over tomorrow my prediction is HDM growth over the next year will slow compared to the growth of dvd over high prices. I also predict the cheapest 1.1 compliant player next Xmas goes for $399.

Fox has always overpriced their software. Warner has always priced it as low as possible. That's true on DVD and it will be true on HDM... regardless of format.

Did you ever stop to consider how much HD DVD software would cost if Disney and Fox released HD DVDs? Yep... they'd charge the same high prices that they charge for BD software. Those are STUDIO decisions, not format decisions.

Same with hardware. *** TOSHIBA *** lost money on their hardware because they owned royalities in HD DVD that would recoup the costs and they were willing to try to establish an HD DVD market no matter what they lost in the gamble. That's not true of many other manufacturers, and if Panasonic, Pioneer, and Denon had released HD DVD players, they'd have cost much more than Toshiba's players.

Again, it's not a format difference: it's a company difference.

BD player prices will continue to fall. There will be 2.0 profile players Christmas of 2008 for $299. Wait and see.