Blu-ray Disc Association says it’s too early to lower prices

[gadgtfreek]

TG Daily - Blu-ray Disc Association says it’s too early to lower prices

I think prices are just fine for this Christmas season.

Los Angeles (CA) – So the Blu-ray disc is the only physical high-definition format left in the market, but that isn’t going to translate into lower prices any time soon, according to Andy Parsons, the Chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association. Parsons, who is also the senior VP of Advanced Product Development at Pioneer Electronics, told attendees at the DisplaySearch/NPD HDTV conference in Los Angeles that Blu-ray volume needs to increase before content makers and set-top makers can cut prices.

Parsons was speaking as part of a panel on high-definition formats and told the audience that Blu-ray hardware and disc prices are behaving the same as when DVD players were first getting popular. “There’s not enough market [volume] to lower the price,” Parsons said, adding that companies have to build “awareness and demand for the technology," before prices can decrease.

In terms of market volume, DVD players and discs still rule the market and Blu-ray is being sold at a premium (relatively speaking). The cheapest BD player is currently selling for approximately $230 with many players still selling for $300 to $600 dollars. DVD players in contrast are almost give-aways these days, costing less than $100. Blu-ray movies often sell for $25 and up while DVDs can easily be bought for $20 and under. But Parsons points out that DVD didn’t start out at $49, adding, “people complained about it [pricing] back then too.”

Even though Blu-ray easily fought off HD-DVD, Parson admits the format isn’t going to get a free ride from consumers. Digital downloads will be a worthy threat to Blu-ray, but he says people understand packaged media better and that consumers want something that, “they can hold in their hands”. Furthermore, Parsons believes packaged media will remain the dominant format.

But in the end, DVDs could be the biggest threat to Blu-ray. According to Danny Kaye, EVP of Global Research and Technology Strategy at 20th Century Home Entertainment, don’t count the standard definition disc out just yet. “We buried DVD long before its time … it’s going to be a long time before it dies,” he said.

 

[jayn_j]

Laserdisk II.

Heading for a videophile niche market (not that there is anything wrong with that!)

 

[navychop]

Yep, too early for prices to drop. Too bad (for them) that's not how the market works. We're seeing lower prices a year earlier than I expected.

Kinda already left the niche market, I'd say. Selling faster than laserdiscs at equivalent points, no? Tracking pretty favorably with DVD sales at equivalent points.

Just think, in 2009 as more people know about digital TV, and buy HDTVs, and learn how they can put that HDTV to best use with Blu-ray - sales will continue to accelerate.

 

[Bobby H]

I, too, believe standalone Blu-ray player prices are in line with how DVD player pricing was at the same point in that format's history (24-30 month era after introduction).

I bought my first DVD player when the format was 2 years old (in the Spring of 1999). I paid over $400 for a Sony S530D DVD player with built in Dolby Digital decoding and 5.1 channel analog output. I replaced that player early in 2002 with a 5-disc Pioneer DVD changer for $250. And then last year I replaced that one with a $80 Sony single disc DVD player with HDMI output (and S-Video connectors).

The point is that $99 or $49 DVD players didn't become available immediately. The first APEX DVD players cost closer to the $200 level. When the first $99 players appeared, most people were very suspicious of them. The price wasn't the main enticement to buy either; it was the region-free capability.

The same rule should hold true with pricing on Blu-ray players. There's little to any profit at all in a sub-$100 DVD player. An electronics salesman can't be expected to waste his breath explaining how a $50 loss-leader device works.

OTOH, I think some aggressive price drops are needed on the "software" side of the equation. I'm not paying $30+ for a bare-bones BD-25 disc from a studio like Fox or Warner Bros. where the 1080p video was sluffed off from a soft looking, dirt speckled, several years old HD telecine master. I can see paying a premium price when the studio bothers to put forth the effort to properly introduce that title to Blu-ray -particularly if it's a new release title with lots of HD-quality extras. I'm not buying it at all if they're just going to go through the motions, use old transfers, single layer discs and still want the same money. To hell with that. That especially holds true if I already own a copy of that movie on DVD. The movie studios need to offer more incentive to upgrade. They're doing it on some titles, but definitely not all.

 

[navychop]

Yes. I believe the production capacity is now coming on line to support more releases.

 

[darrencp22]

I think prices are absurd and when blue-ray won the war it put consumers years behind. Wont touch a bluray player until they break the $200 mark.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Id like to know where you "prices are absurd" guys were when DVD came out.

Dvd launched in NA in what, 1997??

I paid $299 for a Sony DVD player Feb '00. Looks like BR is on course to me, some of you have just failed to realize it.

 

[Zookster]

One thing that might accelerate BD adoption (just as it did later with DVD) is the existence of online rental services like Netflix/Blockbuster. Even if they both raise prices for BD access, for the price of buying one movie/month, you can rent any where from 15-30 in that same time. If it wasn't for that service, I don't know that I would have gone Blu as soon as I did, sticking to premium cable for HD movies instead.

 

[navychop]

I think prices are absurd and when blue-ray won the war it put consumers years behind. Wont touch a bluray player until they break the $200 mark.

I got my second one, a Sammy 1500 for $80. All I had to do was buy a Sammy 52A650 with it!

 

[gadgtfreek]

I got my second one, a Sammy 1500 for $80. All I had to do was buy a Sammy 52A650 with it!

Hehe, smart@$$