No surprise here: Sales of HD DVD Players Plunge After Warner Move:
"One week after Warner Brothers Entertainment announced that it was abandoning its support for the next-generation HD DVD format in favor of the Blu-ray high-definition format, consumers abandoned HD DVD.
What was a 50-50 market split in 2007 for the high-definition players shifted sharply in Blu-ray’s favor in the new year. For the week that ended Jan. 12, Blu-ray hardware captured 90 percent of the market, according to data collected by the NPD Group, a market analysis firm."
Wired had the best take on the matter:
Hey HD DVD: It’s Not Just a Flesh Wound
You’ve got to hand to Toshiba. Even now, when faced with overwhelming evidence that Sony’s Blu-ray has won the high def format war, the mortally wounded HD DVD backer just keeps on prolonging the inevitable.
So to the HD DVD camp I say this: You’ve put up a good fight, guys, but seriously, what are you going to, bleed on Blu-ray? Let’s move on with our lives.
Source:
Sales of HD DVD Players Plunge After Warner Move
ERIC A. TAUB
NYT, January 28, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/28/technology/28disc.html
Hey HD DVD: It’s Not Just a Flesh Wound
Bryan Gardiner
Wired, January 28, 2008 | 4:22:25 PM
http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/01/hey-hd-dvd-its.html
NPD Confirms Huge Blu-ray Share Jump http://hd.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=291403
Darn it. I bought three HD-DVDs and the HD-DVD attachment to XBox 360. Maybe I will hold on to it for 10 years and sell it on Ebay to an antique collector.
Good. Let’s get on with it.
Let’s bring the price of those blu ray machines down NOW.
Meanwhile, plastic disks are dead men walking.
They may walk for another 5 years, or another 10. But they’re dead nonetheless.
One day your blu ray player will go the way of your cassette deck…or 8-track player for those a bit older than that.
Glad I waited.
This makes up for the hits I took on Betamax – three top flights professional recorders costing over $2.5K each (bargain prices at the time in Europe), one high end Betamax camcorder and all its lens and accessories including many not available to U.S. consumers, cost totaling something north of $3.5K, a couple hundred blank tapes and movies – only God knows what I spent on that collection, and a devotion to the better format as evidenced on an oscilloscope and other electronic measuring devices. Betamax to the end…and it did end except on larger tape. Still have most of that equipment and the tapes.
Lessons learned: (1) Patience is a virtue. (2) Being right isn’t always the best course with regard to financial investment decisions. (3) Stop swimming upstream when it gets cold.
I might come out even or ahead this time.
>
Barry, could I get a transcript of this post on Wordstar, on a 5 inch floppy disc?
Thanks.
This report was bogus. The statistics are based on Sony giving away its players. Now if they want to do that long term, they probably will, but I suspect this was version one players that will soon be obsolete when they release version two.
When do we get to the Matrix?
“Plug me in Trinity!”
Here’s my prediction. Blu-ray will become the dominate distribution for high def video, BUT, that dominance will be short lived. Certainly shorter than the standard DVD or the Video Tape before it. The next dominate formate will without doubt come via the internet. In fact, Apple is making another attempt at this with new firmware for the Apple TV that allows people to rent high def movies without the hassle of logging on your computer.
Sorry Sony, Game, Set and Match.
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If Sony did that just as several studios switched to Blu-Ray, its a brilliant strategic move.
(Hey Lord, Do you have a link for that? I cant find anything on it)
Doug ya missed a quarter point – it was 5.25″ floppy
Donny – may need a download station (to flash drive) at whats left of your record store. HiDef thru the pipes with the internet, 80+ tv channels and 150 billion housholds wanting their favorite b&w cowboy flick, and homeland security needing cameras on every corner piped to headquarters.
I returned my HD-DVD I bought around xmas from Amazon, but instead of going BluRay, I’m going AppleTV for the time being and just waiting for digital file formats to improve in quality – shouldn’t be long as I’m already getting HD on-demand with Comcast. I concur with previous poster that BluRay will be over (imo by 2010) as video discs go the way of the CD.
I hedged my bets and bought a PS3 and looks like it was right. Now about the idea of downloads…I think they are a while off until they get the quality higher and the pipes faster. I personally like the idea of a disc that i can play where I want, when I want and has extra features. I also like the idea that if my hard drive dies I don’t loose hundreds of dollars in purchases. Downloads don’t do that and bet hey won’t, if they do then they will charge for each item. With a new format they can break free of the expectations from the previous format.
Another thing that might cramp the download adoption is tiered data plans. If the cable and communication companies get their way you’ll pay thru the nose for bandwidth. Time Warner is trying that tiered pricing in Texas already. If that passes you will pay same for video and get less while paying more for your data connection. Big corps win and consumer gets screwed.
Personally I’d rather buy a HD disc than pay $120 a month for tv where I watch 6 or 7 channels. I’ll be happy when they are forced to let us purchase ala carte.
My two cents.
I bought an HD DVD last year. D’oh!
I already stream over the net via NFLX and have an HDMI out from my PC to my TV.
But I might buy a PS3 if the Senate eliminates the salary cap on the tax rebates. LOL.
Sony’s free players, http://www.electronichouse.com/article/free_blu_ray_players_boosted_numbers/C175
Version 2 coming out in Oct
http://www.betanews.com/article/Bluray_Early_adopters_knew_what_they_were_getting_into/1199841379
There is one potential fly in the ointment still for BD’s domination that I haven’t seen discussed much: Computer drives.
If Toshiba could manufacture and sell a recordable HD-DVD drive for $100 with cheap media to go along with it, studio support would be moot and Sony would be unable (or unwilling) to match it. (Are they still losing money on every PS3 sold?) At the very least, it would keep things interesting for a while.
Thoughts?
BTW, if you haven’t bought one yet, here’s a word of caution. I bought the Samsung P1400. At first, I didn’t have any Blu-Ray discs, but regular stuff looked great. Occassionally, it would stop for no apparent reason, but hitting the play button resumed everything. A minor annoyance.
Then I got Planet Earth. The disc wouldn’t read. The machine needed a firmware upgrade. OK. But a hassle, because they don’t have a Mac download. So I had my guy in the office make the disc for the upgrade and it installed. Since then, nothing but disaster. It freezes constantly. I’m fed up enough to want to throw it out. I am hoping Samsung will take it back, but if not, I may buy a new one anyway. The latest Panasonic seems to be getting rave reviews.
It’s unfortunate, because when it works, it’s the most spectacular picture I’ve ever seen.
Thanks to Best Buy’s refund policy, I didn’t get stuck with yet another idle gadget. They were kind (just after Christmas) and took back my HD-DVD Toshiba. I took it back after Blockbuster told me they were only going to stock Blu-Ray.
I purchased a PS3 and I am very happy with it.