PR: Consumers Overwhelmingly Choose “Blu”

[Ilya]

Consumers Overwhelmingly Choose “Blu”
Over One Million Blu-ray Players Shipped in the U.S. in 2006; Blu-ray Becomes the Clear Leader in HD Entertainment

Las Vegas, NV– January 8, 2007 – The Blu-ray Disc Association today declared its victory as the premiere high definition DVD format of choice. Debuted to the U.S. market in June 2006, over 25 companies have released Blu-ray Disc products to date, including players, recorders, high-definition computer drives, recordable media, PC applications, and announced almost 170 movie and music titles.

Driving demand for high definition content, more than one million Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) units, each featuring a Blu-ray Disc drive, were shipped to the United States in 2006, from launch through the end of the year, as reported by Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA). Demand for PS3 has been extremely high, and according to a recent SCEA survey of over 10,000 PS3 owners, 80 percent indicated they will buy Blu-ray movies and 75 percent said they use the PS3 as a primary device for viewing movies.

“The success of Blu-ray Disc is unprecedented,” said Andy Parsons, chair of the U.S. Promotions Committee for the Blu-ray Disc Association. “With unmatched cross-industry support, including seven of the eight major Hollywood studios and two biggest players in the music industry, consumers have voted with their wallets for the format that offers the widest array of hardware and content on the market. The road ahead in 2007 looks even brighter as we introduce Blu-ray Disc to Europe and as even more consumers migrate to HDTVs.”

Blu-ray Disc provides consumers and content providers with a single common format that has the capacity, image and audio quality, interactivity and connectivity needed to expand beyond the simple movie playback and into a range of interoperable consumer products and applications that have brought a new dimension to home entertainment.

Understanding & Solutions, Ltd., a leading market analyst projects continually increasing market share for Blu-ray Disc beginning in 2007, and predicts that by 2010 virtually all HD optical disc hardware sold will be Blu-ray hardware, with all but the smallest fraction of movie content also on Blu-ray only.

In 2007, consumers in the U.S. will continue to see a pouring of Blu-ray Disc products on retail shelves, including new arrivals such as Pioneer’s next generation BD-ROM computer drive, the BDC-202, Samsung Electronics’ second-generation Blu-ray Disc player, the BD-P1200, Sony’s VAIO XL3 Digital Living System and highly-anticipated movie releases from seven of the eight major movie studios supporting the format. For a list of companies that have announced products and movie titles, please see attached.

Blu-ray Disc Association at ICES
To see and experience the Blu-ray Disc product lineup, please visit the association’s booth (#11606) located in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. For more information on specific Blu-ray products, please visit the Blu-ray Disc Association’s ICES press site at: http://www.virtualpressoffice.com/presskit/index.jsp?showId=1136771688404&companyId=1161029578109

About Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is the next-generation optical disc format being developed for high-definition video and high-capacity software applications. A single-layer Blu-ray Disc will hold up to 25 gigabytes of data and a double-layer Blu-ray Disc will hold up to 50 gigabytes of data.

About the Blu-ray Disc Association
The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) is responsible for promoting and further developing business opportunities for Blu-ray Disc - the next-generation optical disc for storing high-definition movies, games, photos and other digital content. The BDA has more than 180 members. Its Board of Directors consists of Apple; Dell Inc.; HP; Hitachi, Ltd.; LG Electronics Inc.; Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; Panasonic (Matsushita Electric); Pioneer Corporation; Royal Philips Electronics; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; Sharp Corporation; Sony Corporation; TDK Corporation; Thomson; Twentieth Century Fox; Walt Disney Pictures and Television; Warner Bros. Entertainment.

 

[teamerickson]

I don't like that post.

 

[Ilya]

I don't like that post.

Well, then check out the other one I just posted:
PR: Consumers Connect with HD DVD Brand, Driving Hardware and Movie Sales

 

[Tom Bombadil]

But nearly all of them are the Blu-Ray drives within a PS3 and it is debatable how many of those will be used to watch a lot of Blu-Ray movies.

 

[teamerickson]

OK, that's better.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I have no vested interest in the HD-DVD or Blu Ray war; but I can't put a lot of stock in the Blu Ray Association saying "they won the war."

Although... the incorporation of it into the PS3 will sure make it hard for HD DVD.

 

[VinceT3]

I don't think putting blu-ray into the ps3 will help much.. didn't do much for UMD and I didn't buy a PS2 for DVD playing capabilities..

 

[Cokeswigga]

yeah, but the ps2 cost more than a dvd player.

in this case the PS3 costs less than Blu-ray player.

I would probably buy a ps3 to play blu-rays before I bough a dedicated blu-ray player

 

[GeorgeLV]

That's like putting out a press release saying consumers overwhelming choose UMD. When it's bundled, it's not like you have a choice.

 

[cybertrip]

That's like putting out a press release saying consumers overwhelming choose UMD. When it's bundled, it's not like you have a choice.

And when 7 out of 8 studios going with Blu-Ray and half of them exclusively Blu-Ray. It's not like you have a choice there either. I hate format wars.

 

[Sean Mota]

I did not choose either... but I guess once the dual dvd comes out... neither one will be saying so but the consumers chose dual...

 

[JonUrban]

Reminds me of someone giving a victory speach on an Aircraft Carrier some time ago!

 

[ronjohn]

I don't think putting blu-ray into the ps3 will help much.. didn't do much for UMD and I didn't buy a PS2 for DVD playing capabilities..

But I never have seen a stand alone UMD player. The only way to watch a UMD that I know of is with a PSP.

 

[cebbigh]

I am content with my Hd-A1. When prices on BluRay players drop below 200.00 I'll get one of them too (if there are still titles that I care about missing on the Hd Dvd format).

 

[TheForce]

I did not choose either... but I guess once the dual dvd comes out... neither one will be saying so but the consumers chose dual...

I would agree with that until I found out the nasty truth about the LG dual player today. It doesn't support the additional HD DVD features. To me that makes the dual concept, at least for now, DOA! It cheaper to buy two full featured players than to buy one crippled LG dual player. Sorry, but this doesn't seem to be the Superman of HDDVD and Blu-Ray format war.

 

[riffjim4069]

I did not choose either... but I guess once the dual dvd comes out... neither one will be saying so but the consumers chose dual...

Me too! For whatever reason, neither format really interests me at this time. I've decided to wait for the first one to offer a $199 player...hopefully a dual-format player.

 

[ralfyguy]

I bought my first DVD player about 2 years ago, when they dropped below $100, and the market flooded with DVD's. This is how I'll handle this new Blue Ray HD-DVD war.

 

[BobMurdoch]

Sorry, Jedi Mind Tricks only work on the weak minded. Battle will go on for another year. Talk to me this time next year and we'll see who's leading. Especially after those $50-$100 Chinese HD DVD players start showing up in supermarkets mid to late 2007.....

 

[dwcobb]

Just my 2 cents on the debate re: the PS3.

Never forget that Sony is very focused on its home market in Japan. While the US market is certainly bigger, the Japanese market is huge.

One factoid I heard not too long back was that the success of the PS2 in Japan was partially fueled by the fact that it was also a DVD player, and the PS2 in turn created much of the DVD market in Japan. Basically, before the PS2 DVD's were still relatively unpopular in Japan, or so I gather.

The PS3 is simply the next round in the same war. Whether or not the strategy plays out here in the US, I think there is a very good chance it will work out very well in Japan, where adoption of High Def is farther along than it is in the US.

There may be little cross over benefit to the US market (though honestly I can't imagine it is that much work regionalizing the Blu-Ray discs for each market). But regardless of what platform you think will win in the US (and my money in this case, for once, is on Sony), I think Sony has very GOOD odds of winning the format war in Japan.

 

[shanewalker]

This format war will be raging for at least another 1 1/2-2 years before any real winner emerges...and it will likely be a Combo-player driven detente IMHO that will merge the two in the consumers' eyes. It will be like DVD recordable...like my Sony set-top recorder(s), I can buy different stock +R/RW or -R/RW and it all works, so I could care less about the 'format' aside from their little quirks/strengths for different uses, its all DVD to me. Warner is on to something with their combo disc. But in the end, the studios can release on whatever, and folks will have combo players and won't really care one way or the other.

As for UMD...it was the price, pure and simple. The idea was right-on--high quality movies 'on the go'. It was the called-upon $20+ (BS convenience/novelty charge) for a stunted DVD that was ridiculous. They were lower-rez and couldn't be played on a TV because of it, so the format showing up in any type of set-top style player was pointless. Also, Sony opening up the format for home burning of our own content, ala Mini-disc, would've helped. But pricing them in the $4-$9.99 range would have really helped sell some discs...after all, these were little more than disc-based downloads, only viewable on a limited platform, and should have had corellating price points. In short--limited use, lower price. The industry still isn't learning that with timed viewing-window VOD...it should be costing us $2 a pop, LESS than renting a DVD at the corner video store, not MORE.

Will these greedy idiots ever learn?