Microsoft talks Blu-ray with Sony

http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/2008-03-06

Sony Electronics Chief: Battle Over Hi-Def Is Just Beginning
Sony Electronics President and COO Stan Glasgow says that the victory of his company's Blu-ray format over Toshiba's HD DVD represents barely a first step toward convincing consumers to upgrade to high-definition video players. At a New York press briefing reported in today's (Thursday) online edition of Broadcasting & Cable, Glasgow acknowledged that many consumers recognize that their standard DVDs look a lot better on HDTV sets than they did on their old analog sets. The real challenge, he said, will be convincing them that the additional resolution of Blu-ray is worth the hundreds of dollars they will have to spend on a new player and the significantly higher prices for movies released on Blu-ray discs. "The battle really begins now," Glasgow said. Meanwhile, the website High-Def Disc News reported Wednesday that Circuit City is offering to let customers who bought HD DVD players within the past 90 days trade them in and apply the original price toward a Blu-ray player. The deal applies only to the players, not to movies released in the HD DVD format.
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HD-DVD and the Early Adopter Premium

Slashdot Article

"The early adopter premium is the difference between the cost of buying the latest greatest techno-toy today and the cost of buying an equal or better unit a couple of years later for much less. That Blu-ray unit you buy today for $300 will cost $80 two years from now. The premium is the $220 you pay to get the starter Blu-ray unit now as opposed to waiting. The same applied for HD-DVD until the axe finally fell and this is where it gets interesting. MP3 Newswire has been tracking post-mortem HD-DVD sales on eBay and surprisingly found that there are many takers. And why are people flocking to buy this decade's Betamax? Simple, they did the math. The demise of HD-DVD format creates "an option where the consumer can get his high-def player NOW without paying the $220 early adopter premium. That savings pays for the player and more. New sealed boxes of the Toshiba HD-A3, which shipped last fall for $300, are now drawing on average about $75 on eBay, where plummeting HD-DVD movie prices are averaging between $6 and $10. "Take a consumer with a 42" plasma set who needs to replace a broken standard definition DVD player. He can a) replace it with another standard definition DVD for about $60. b) He can buy a Blu-Ray player for between $300-$1000. c) He can buy an HD-DVD unit for under $80 and then buy ten $10 or sixteen $6 HD-DVD videos for a total of $180". What really drives this is Blu-ray's skimpy catalog, which will take a couple of years to pump up. Rather than blow the $220 on the early adopter premium just to have access to a limited number of movies the post mortem HD-DVD buyers can enjoy cheap Hi-Def players, cheap Hi-Def videos, and pay less. These users can shift to Blu-ray when players are less expensive and the catalog is robust. Actually, the early adopter premium is more like $320. With the win, Blu-ray manufacturers have raised prices."
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The thing is, given Sony's propensity to overcharge, who says the bluray player prices will come down to current DVD player prices? I don't think it will - given that Sony are currently licensing their chipsets at astronomical prices to manufacturers (while they themselves capture market share by sheer numbers from their consoles), it is the worst possible scenario for the consumer. The consumer needed an open format, or second prize competing formats to remain with no clear winner, so now, the net result is Sony holds pocket aces, and two deuces have landed face up on the flop. It's a pity, but this format is probably not going to be as revolutionary in the world as it may have been if HD-DVD didn't die.
 
kingmonty said:
The thing is, given Sony's propensity to overcharge, who says the bluray player prices will come down to current DVD player prices? I don't think it will - given that Sony are currently licensing their chipsets at astronomical prices to manufacturers (while they themselves capture market share by sheer numbers from their consoles), it is the worst possible scenario for the consumer. The consumer needed an open format, or second prize competing formats to remain with no clear winner, so now, the net result is Sony holds pocket aces, and two deuces have landed face up on the flop. It's a pity, but this format is probably not going to be as revolutionary in the world as it may have been if HD-DVD didn't die.
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Microsoft has there video downloads. Hoepfully this will be synonymous with future video distributions:

The Sony president said he did not believe Blu-ray would be overtaken by high-definition content becoming available over the Internet.
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Even if Sony realises it maybe they have lost a lot of ground in pushing the PS3?
 
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