Retailers to ditch HD-DVD by next year?

JoeSp

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Okay, Okay, its the New York Post -- but this is the strongest indictment against HD-DVD that I have seen in the media:

http://www.nypost.com/seven/0308200...cending_entertainment_lou_lumenick.htm?page=1

If these type of articles keep coming out then it will be curtains for HD-DVD. M$ might have alot of money but they can not buy all the newpapers. Imagine not having any knowledge of BD and HD-DVD and reading this article. What do you think the average consumer would buy after reading this!
 
They really need to research their subject before they print articles. There is more going on behind the scenes in the HD DVD camp than than we even know. Both formats will coexist with all studios going neutral. Everybody follows the money trail
 
Okay, Okay, its the New York Post -- but this is the strongest indictment against HD-DVD that I have seen in the media!

Look harder. I'm sure you can find articles that spout Steve Feldstein of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment PR BS.

Better yet, get out of the house more often, or watch a movie on your 'game machine'. :eureka

Even this article from one 'newspaper' I'm embarrassed to quote sez "For the first time, . . . . total sales of Blu-ray discs passed those of HD DVD".

If Sony execs had given as much credence as you do to monthly sales reports as you do, they wouldn't even have bothered to launch the PS3 in Europe after seeing HD DVD already has an 85% market share there. But, they just decided to save $30 and remove the chip that gives it PS2 compatibility.

And, I have to ask, how in the world do you justify a thread title of "Retailers to ditch HD-DVD by next year?" from this lame article?

We'll probably still be here a year from now arguing this, but right now I have an HD DVD movie waiting for me to relax & enjoy. :rolleyes:
 
You know CochiseGuy, the market share of HD-DVD before the PS3 launched in the US was about the same. And where are we now?
 
Well, I certainly don't believe there will be a Blu-ray player below $300 by the end of this year. Nor are we likely to see huge increases in broadband speeds in the next 4 or 5 years- at least, not for the masses. Fios will expand only so fast, and there really isn't a great move to increase speeds to the home via other technologies. Internet II or even other internet infrastructure increases are not likely to make a huge difference that quickly. Most people will find it preferable to buy or rent a disc, and have a real case with art and info for their purchase.

That being said, the article is repeating what is generally known and published elsewhere. It is true, things look quite grim for HD-DVD. And always have. Has any reputable industry analyst ever predicted a victory for HD-DVD? And don't belittle the analysts because you don't agree with them. This is their business, they're paid to produce and back well reasoned and researched forecasts.

Unsupported claims of "things going on behind the scenes" sounds reminiscent of Hitler in the final weeks claiming super weapons and non-existent armies would turn the war around. Disney will not go with HD-DVD simply because it lacks regional encoding. Blu-ray would have to fail completely for them to even consider it. And even then, they might skip the format and stick with some highly copy protected form of downloading. Or wait it out for HVD or whatever comes next. Same for Sony and their studios.

The money trail leads straight to Blu-ray, by an over 2 to 1 margin.
 
... I have to ask, how in the world do you justify a thread title of "Retailers to ditch HD-DVD by next year?" from this lame article?

Yes. From the bottom of the first page of the two page article:
"...Alison Casey, who analyzes consumer trends for London-based Understanding & Solutions, predicts that retailers will pull the plug on HD DVD sometime next year...."
 
Navychop, you talk like a guy from Northern VA. Mister Politics!!! Give me a break on the whole Blu-Ray crap. How about the money trail? The consumer is going to go for the cheaper more understanding product. HD-DVD explains itself and they were definitely thinking about the consumer when the prices first came out. HD-DVD is just as good as Blu-Ray and easier to make without all the problems with the dual layer discs Blu-Ray has. Plus HD-DVD will have there new 51 GB disc out by the end of the year. The only reason Blu-Ray players are even coming down in price is because of HD-DVD hardware prices. If the studios were actually smart and supported both formats I guarantee you HD-DVD would be ahead as we speak in sales. Remember HD-DVD is way ahead in the rest of the world.
 
Unsupported claims of "things going on behind the scenes" sounds reminiscent of Hitler in the final weeks claiming super weapons and non-existent armies would turn the war around. Disney will not go with HD-DVD simply because it lacks regional encoding. Blu-ray would have to fail completely for them to even consider it. And even then, they might skip the format and stick with some highly copy protected form of downloading. Or wait it out for HVD or whatever comes next. Same for Sony and their studios.

The money trail leads straight to Blu-ray, by an over 2 to 1 margin.

Navychop, you're being short sighted like the author of the NY Times article. The behind the scenes claim is not unsupported. Go over to the AVS forum and do a little research under the HD DVD section and do a search for a gentleman/ HD DVD insider by the name of Amir.
 
Prices are about the same. In fact, considering the Amazon sale, Blu-ray discs are cheaper now.

HD-DVD is not way ahead in the rest of the world. For one, they're all but out of the market in Australia.

A lot of "ifs" could change anything. But we're dealing with the real world. And real world is, Blu-ray discs are outselling HD-DVD discs by over 2 to 1. If that holds up as volume increases, HD-DVD loses. And seeing that more titles, and more blockbuster titles, are coming out this year for Blu-ray, that sales ratio is likely to hold up or even grow.

Maybe I'll get my grain of salt and check out those AVS posts. But my experience at AVS has been to see a lot of emotion and false claims. Even on this site, I've seen posts of claims of insider knowledge that Disney was going to make HD-DVD discs by Christmas. That's Christmas 2006.

I hate to see Sony "win." I despise that company. But I do see the capacity of Blu-ray, and it's expandability, as important. There have been demonstrations of 200GB capacity BDs. Who knows what will really make it to market. The indicators are strong for a Blu-ray win, but yes, the market is still small and things can change. I'm not counting on any surprise out of the HD-DVD camp. Heard too many such claims before. Despite some wishes, it is unlikely that the major studios supporting Blu-ray exclusively will change and support both. And that may be the key to a Blu-ray victory.
 
Which "amir"? The one named "amir" has only 28 posts and they don't seem to be about HD-DVD, just plasmas.

How about a link?
 
I love how Universal keeps saying HD-DVD's only problem is lack of releases... Why are they not pumping them out flooding the market? Oh yeah they are only one studio and only have so many movies they can make.

Perhaps the Blu-Ray strategy of having a bunch of exclusive studios is outdoing them?

Universal is hurting now on multiple fronts. They are the sole exclusive supporter of HD-DVD, but they do not have the lineup of hits in the theater to make a difference. This plus their budget is being cut severly by NBC-Universal they will not be making any more big budget movies for a while. They have been reaching deep into their catalog to find DVD releases to make ends meet, but there are only so many titles there, it is a short term strategy.
 
Thank you. So it's amirm. I've read most of his posts in that "industry insider's questions" thread. He claims to be, and AVS seems to have vetted the truth of this, a Microsoft insider. He certainly pushes VC-1 at every opportunity.

He seem to have doubts about the value of BD+. Ok, - who knows? It's not out yet. He seems to be careful not to divulge stuff that's not supposed to be out as public knowledge. He has reassured folks that the breaking of security has not resulted in studios backing away from high def. But he glosses over the dearth of releases from Universal. He repeats that the first quarter of the year for retail is "dead."

He only seems to be promising performance improvements. I don't see that as a major development coming. He comments on the possibility of interactive features over the internet. Again, not a major development, even if it ever sees the light of day. One "rumorish" thing I saw was a comment that regional coding could be allowed/implemented later, but after such a change was voted in, it would be 18 months before it would be in effect. And he claims to be hearing from BD companies interested in adding HD-DVD capability to their products.

I see no "behind the scenes" stuff of any significance. If I missed something, please post a link to the specific item.
 
Is there anything newer from this man? This article, his statements, are well over a year old and I would like to see/hear what he is saying now in comparison to way back then.
 
Is there anything newer from this man? This article, his statements, are well over a year old and I would like to see/hear what he is saying now in comparison to way back then.
That has got to be a misprint on the date. I think it should be January 07. If you read the article it refers to players already being out.
 
Navychop good points on your response to my thread. I was not talking about the software I meant the hardware. The only reason Blu-Ray is dropping prices so drastically is to compete with the HD-DVD hardware prices. Yes BR is up 2 to 1 because of studio support, but not in Europe where HD-DVD has the lead. Also, remember the VHS and betamax war. Whoever wins the porn industry wins the format war. Right now porn is pushing HD-DVD. 200GB discs are great, but it is all about the price. It costs more to produce movies right now on Blu-Ray then HD-DVD and 200GB discs would not be cheap to produce. We will see if Toshiba and Microsoft can convince the movie companies to go neutral so they can make more money.
 
Well, I think team has ID'd the guy. Interesting to note that even back then (if it was indeed 1/06), the most they seem to have hoped for is to co-exist with Blu-ray. That's the most they can hope for today, and that hope is getting slimmer as each month's sales reports come out. First quarter results should be most interesting. And if sales continue rising and the gap widens in the summer, will the fat lady on the bandwagon sing forth?

But there's still no meat on the bones of "more going on behind the scenes in the HD-DVD camp." Sure, something's going on, but not much.

MAYBE both will survive, but I tend to doubt it. Retailers, including renters, and studios all want a single format. Much easier to stock, less capital investment, less floor space. And HD-DVD has made it worse for themselves with the "total" and "combo" discs. Just more for the retailer to stock, more for the studios to produce. It's hardly in the interest of the Blu-ray exclusive studios to also produce HD-DVD. BD title sales are double HD-DVD sales, and have the potential of increasing that gap substantially simply because the overwhelming majority of titles made are controlled by Blu-ray exclusive studios. People will buy the player that plays the titles they want to see. The sole dual format (almost) player on the market today is an expensive dog.

The truth is, HD-DVD is NOT cheaper than Blu-ray. Prices vary- a lot. The Amazon sale on now certainly shows that Blu-ray discs can be, at times at least, significantly cheaper than HD-DVD discs. And even if a BD disc was a buck or three more, people would buy it if they want the title- or they'd get a regular DVD. Players are available at the same price points, with more on the way. It costs no more to rent a Blu-ray than an HD-DVD. PQ is the same. Audio quality, if anything, is better on Blu-ray.

As to it not being "fair" that the studios aren't producing in both formats: Let me enlighten you. That's how business is done. The studios picked what was in their own best interest. Whether the deciding factor was watermarking, BD+, preference for the higher capacity, seeing the stronghold Blu-ray has on the computer field, or whatever, - it doesn't matter. They picked who they thought the winner would be, and invested in it.

Porn will not determine this one. Remember, porn wanted to go with Blu-ray, but Sony is making that difficult. Porn on disc is declining in sales. They don't have the influence they once did. And they'll pump out discs in any format available. If Blu-ray becomes sole winner, they'll find a way.

Sony could still lose- but that's not where to put your nickel. It's looking more and more like I'll be shopping the Fourth of July sales for a player.
 

Toshiba #1 in US while Sony set to cut 160 jobs

Walmart and cheap HDDVD players

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