Blu-ray stutters in face of tough economy, HD downloads

Iria · Sep 25, 2008, 04:57 AM

Blu-ray's hold on the plastic video disc market is slipping—the opposite of what everyone expected once HD DVD bowed out of the competition. Blu-ray's market share fell to eight percent during the week ending on September 14, according to the latest data from Nielsen VideoScan, with regular old DVD making up the other 92 percent. And with the US economy now on even shakier ground than usual, Blu-ray's chunk of the market looks likely to stay low for some time.
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Source: Ars Technica

Mr cairo · Sep 25, 2008, 12:55 PM

drop the price of disks drop the price of players drop the price of PS3's and drop the price of burners .... sorted

Judas · Sep 25, 2008, 03:43 PM

i've never bought more BR dvds ever then in this month....

Alot of this all seems to stem from obviously poor economy in alot of NA... the only place that seems to be popping from what i can gather is western canada...

Lowfat · Sep 25, 2008, 03:52 PM

I have a Bluray/HDDVD player and I still don't buy Blurays. $30+ for a movie? No thanks.

Matth · Sep 25, 2008, 04:10 PM

At the moment, Blu-Ray is in an elite market sector of early adopters, home cinema owners, PS3 owners.

The question is, can it survive the high price, low volume phase and can it price down into a mass market that took mostly price persuasion to switch from VHS to DVD ?

OK, when you've seen real HD quality, you won't want to go back, but in a case of monumental mismanagement, the world is "going digital" in a SD system that is most comparable to DVD.

HD was looked at ages ago, way back in the days of BBC "Tomorrow's world", but generally dismissed as transmission space could not be found, and it would have meant new TVs and so on.

The ultimate irony, now most of the digital TVs that will be bought, are HD-ready, but the system replacing analog (for general distribution) is standard resolution digital.

If it had been better planned, the HD big bang would have swept Blu-Ray along with it. The digital switchover will go down as a seriously missed opportunity to roll out HD as the new standard.

Judas · Sep 25, 2008, 05:22 PM

really odd considering that i've been buying blueray movies for around the same price as standard dvds and in some cases.... cheaper then the dvds....

i mean i got a order that would have cost me 15% more if i had gotten the standard dvds.

Lowfat · Sep 25, 2008, 05:28 PM

[QUOTE=Matth;1181401]At the moment, Blu-Ray is in an elite market sector of early adopters, home cinema owners, PS3 owners.

The question is, can it survive the high price, low volume phase and can it price down into a mass market that took mostly price persuasion to switch from VHS to DVD ?

OK, when you've seen real HD quality, you won't want to go back, but in a case of monumental mismanagement, the world is "going digital" in a SD system that is most comparable to DVD.

O I definitely won't go back to DVD, but I won't be buying bluray either lol.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judas

really odd considering that i've been buying blueray movies for around the same price as standard dvds and in some cases.... cheaper then the dvds....

i mean i got a order that would have cost me 15% more if i had gotten the standard dvds.

For new movies though? I know you can get them on sale @ amazon and such, but generally new movies are $30+

Necrosis · Sep 25, 2008, 07:34 PM

I think another problem is the releases. There is only a handful of movies coming out that I actually want to buy. Also like I've said in the past people who really are interested look at the video quality of the movie as well. I've passed on movies because the transfer has been reported not being up to par.

Necrosis · Sep 25, 2008, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Netflix CEO Barry McCarthy recently told Home Media Magazine that he didn't expect Blu-ray to have much of an impact on the company's DVD business in 2008 at all. Citing high player prices, he said that only a fraction of Netflix subscribers currently rent Blu-ray disks.

Yet they still had to raise rates???

Judas · Sep 26, 2008, 03:40 PM

well blue ray is just starting to show up in the midrange-higherend laptops in mass....

and yes... i just bought a few newer movies for 24.99 as well as preordered some new ones for 26.99 and 28.99 which may see a price reduction by the time they ship out...

Considering that standard dvds are still selling for 20-25 and sometimes 30 still they are pretty much right in line...

Sep 25, 2008, 04:57 AM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 89	Blu-ray stutters in face of tough economy, HD downloads Blu-ray's hold on the plastic video disc market is slipping—the opposite of what everyone expected once HD DVD bowed out of the competition. Blu-ray's market share fell to eight percent during the week ending on September 14, according to the latest data from Nielsen VideoScan, with regular old DVD making up the other 92 percent. And with the US economy now on even shakier ground than usual, Blu-ray's chunk of the market looks likely to stay low for some time. _______________ Source: Ars Technica

Sep 25, 2008, 12:55 PM	#2
Mr cairo F0rum For Humans Only Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Slightly to the left Posts: 1,780 Rep Power: 92 System Specs	drop the price of disks drop the price of players drop the price of PS3's and drop the price of burners .... sorted __________________ *Please consider Sponsoring my wife for the race for life*

Sep 25, 2008, 03:52 PM	#4
Lowfat Xtreme Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Grande Prairie, AB, Can Posts: 4,254 Rep Power: 101	I have a Bluray/HDDVD player and I still don't buy Blurays. $30+ for a movie? No thanks. __________________

Sep 25, 2008, 04:10 PM	#5
Matth Flash Banner Hater Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: UK Posts: 3,426 Rep Power: 93 System Specs	At the moment, Blu-Ray is in an elite market sector of early adopters, home cinema owners, PS3 owners. The question is, can it survive the high price, low volume phase and can it price down into a mass market that took mostly price persuasion to switch from VHS to DVD ? OK, when you've seen real HD quality, you won't want to go back, but in a case of monumental mismanagement, the world is "going digital" in a SD system that is most comparable to DVD. HD was looked at ages ago, way back in the days of BBC "Tomorrow's world", but generally dismissed as transmission space could not be found, and it would have meant new TVs and so on. The ultimate irony, now most of the digital TVs that will be bought, are HD-ready, but the system replacing analog (for general distribution) is standard resolution digital. If it had been better planned, the HD big bang would have swept Blu-Ray along with it. The digital switchover will go down as a seriously missed opportunity to roll out HD as the new standard. __________________ Mary had a little lamb, Her father shot it dead Now Mary takes her lamb to school, Between two crusts of bread

Sep 25, 2008, 07:34 PM	#8
Necrosis HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 8,838 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	I think another problem is the releases. There is only a handful of movies coming out that I actually want to buy. Also like I've said in the past people who really are interested look at the video quality of the movie as well. I've passed on movies because the transfer has been reported not being up to par.