WSJ: Retailers Slash Blu-Ray Player Prices

[meStevo]

Retailers Slash Blu-Ray Player Prices - WSJ.com

Interesting article, would love to hear the Blu-Ray spin side of it. Aberrations aside the graph in that article is not a pretty one.

 

[r.jones1116]

HD DVD Redux

 

[FreddyvsJasonvsAsh]

LOL that article is a tad funny as it says Blu won Hollywood over...the way I see it is Sony bought Hollywood

 

[Poke]

LOL that article is a tad funny as it says Blu won Hollywood over...the way I see it is Sony bought Hollywood

Not really Sony and many others supported the format.. Plus Sony has been in the move industry for a long time now not just with their cameras but studios as well. So it just made sense from the begging kind of a no brainier.. But be nice to see the price a of Blu-Ray movies come down some just bought my first Sony player for the house..

 

[bhelms]

Cheaper players alone will not solve the "problem". We need to see sub $15 BD titles on a routine basis as well. Same story here. My money spent on a player is history. I won't accelerate movie purchases until I see the market coming more to me...

 

[Poke]

Yeah I think between now and Christmas time things will go down some.. I noticed last time I was in Walmart they had some good titles for $19 bucks to new releases around $25..

 

[meStevo]

This could be a good reason to start slashing those media prices - http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/10/29/hd-netflix-streaming-comes-to-xbox-360-first/

20 million STBs with the potential to receive HD video with buffet style pricing in a couple weeks. Is that a first pricing-wise?

 

[Zookster]

This could be a good reason to start slashing those media prices - HD Netflix streaming comes to Xbox 360 first - Engadget HD

20 million STBs with the potential to receive HD video with buffet style pricing in a couple weeks. Is that a first pricing-wise?

For VOD/streaming, I would assume so if you don't include Starz, HBO, Showtime and Cinemax HD ON Demand services available through many cable cos. At least with mine, if you subscribe to the premium ($11/mo. each), you get all available ON Demand content free, including HD. Only problem, the selection numbers in the dozens rather than the 100s or 1000s, though it does rotate out.

 

[BobMurdoch]

For BluRay to flourish, it needs to be a $5 upcharge over DVD TOPS...... This double the price (compared to those doorbuster specials Best Buy runs the first week a title comes out) stuff needs to go away or they become SACD.....

 

[Bobby H]

The "downloads are going to kill Blu-ray" stories will never end, no matter how looney they are.

I buy and rent movies on Blu-ray. Although I have a new Dish Network receiver and a nice 120Hz 1080p TV, I'm not wasting $7 on a mere 24 hour rental that doesn't have nearly the image or sound quality of Blu-ray. I get a better deal on 5-day and 7-day BD rentals from 2 video stores not very far from where I live.

As to Blu-ray movie pricing, you can get the $5 difference or even less compared to the new release on DVD if you're willing to shop around. Honestly, if anyone is silly enough to pay $35 or $40 for a movie on Blu-ray they only have themselves to blame.

Lots of new releases on Blu-ray can be had for under $25. Catalog titles are available for under $20. Some movies on BD sell for under $15, there's just not very many of them since Blu-ray is still a relatively new format and doesn't have tens of thousands of titles like DVD.

It's also worth mentioning that many of the stores who charge full MSRP for movies on Blu-ray also charge pretty high prices for DVDs as well -$25 or even more than that. It's rare that I see "Matrix" style pricing (under $15) anymore for any new movie released onto DVD. Some of the folks telling all the doom and gloom stories about Blu-ray try to imply that any DVD is bargain bin priced right off the bat.

 

[Zookster]

The "downloads are going to kill Blu-ray" stories will never end, no matter how looney they are.

I buy and rent movies on Blu-ray. Although I have a new Dish Network receiver and a nice 120Hz 1080p TV, I'm not wasting $7 on a mere 24 hour rental that doesn't have nearly the image or sound quality of Blu-ray. I get a better deal on 5-day and 7-day BD rentals from 2 video stores not very far from where I live.

As to Blu-ray movie pricing, you can get the $5 difference or even less compared to the new release on DVD if you're willing to shop around. Honestly, if anyone is silly enough to pay $35 or $40 for a movie on Blu-ray they only have themselves to blame.

Lots of new releases on Blu-ray can be had for under $25. Catalog titles are available for under $20. Some movies on BD sell for under $15, there's just not very many of them since Blu-ray is still a relatively new format and doesn't have tens of thousands of titles like DVD.

It's also worth mentioning that many of the stores who charge full MSRP for movies on Blu-ray also charge pretty high prices for DVDs as well -$25 or even more than that. It's rare that I see "Matrix" style pricing (under $15) anymore for any new movie released onto DVD. Some of the folks telling all the doom and gloom stories about Blu-ray try to imply that any DVD is bargain bin priced right off the bat.

+1

Not to mention that, going back to the OP, the success of Netflix's Instant Watching in HD via the 360, the PC or other devices only reinforces and adds value to Netflix's primary business of RENTING DVDs and BDs.

 

[meStevo]

If you think the format will be successful at the current prices of media, because you can 'shop around' then the Kool-Aid in here is a little stronger than I thought.

I'm sure I'm not the only one to sub to Netflix primarily to stream, and rarely rent a disc.

I'm not going to claim that downloads are going to kill anything, but they could become a big reason why Blu-Ray never sees the popularity that DVD has enjoyed... the biggest reason will be the price tags on movies unless that changes sometime soon.

 

[navychop]

The "downloads are going to kill Blu-ray" stories will never end, no matter how looney they are.

I buy and rent movies on Blu-ray. Although I have a new Dish Network receiver and a nice 120Hz 1080p TV, I'm not wasting $7 on a mere 24 hour rental that doesn't have nearly the image or sound quality of Blu-ray. I get a better deal on 5-day and 7-day BD rentals from 2 video stores not very far from where I live.

As to Blu-ray movie pricing, you can get the $5 difference or even less compared to the new release on DVD if you're willing to shop around. Honestly, if anyone is silly enough to pay $35 or $40 for a movie on Blu-ray they only have themselves to blame.

Lots of new releases on Blu-ray can be had for under $25. Catalog titles are available for under $20. Some movies on BD sell for under $15, there's just not very many of them since Blu-ray is still a relatively new format and doesn't have tens of thousands of titles like DVD.

It's also worth mentioning that many of the stores who charge full MSRP for movies on Blu-ray also charge pretty high prices for DVDs as well -$25 or even more than that. It's rare that I see "Matrix" style pricing (under $15) anymore for any new movie released onto DVD. Some of the folks telling all the doom and gloom stories about Blu-ray try to imply that any DVD is bargain bin priced right off the bat.

Excellent post. The anti-BD crowd loves to overlook the spread of FAP and how limiting such policies are for d/l movies. And, of course, the limited PQ & AQ.

Blu-ray is doing just fine, thank you. Like every other "new thing" it starts high for the early adopters who'll pay the freight, and gradually gets cheaper. I believe it's already been established that BD prices are falling faster than DVD prices did. Over the years, it will gain greater market penetration as prices fall, and grow faster than downloading can. Absolutely no reason to think media prices have to tank "sometime soon."

There's room for all three, and the next "next new thing" too.

 

[charper1]

The "downloads are going to kill Blu-ray" stories will never end, no matter how looney they are.

I buy and rent movies on Blu-ray. Although I have a new Dish Network receiver and a nice 120Hz 1080p TV, I'm not wasting $7 on a mere 24 hour rental that doesn't have nearly the image or sound quality of Blu-ray. I get a better deal on 5-day and 7-day BD rentals from 2 video stores not very far from where I live.

As to Blu-ray movie pricing, you can get the $5 difference or even less compared to the new release on DVD if you're willing to shop around. Honestly, if anyone is silly enough to pay $35 or $40 for a movie on Blu-ray they only have themselves to blame.

Lots of new releases on Blu-ray can be had for under $25. Catalog titles are available for under $20. Some movies on BD sell for under $15, there's just not very many of them since Blu-ray is still a relatively new format and doesn't have tens of thousands of titles like DVD.

It's also worth mentioning that many of the stores who charge full MSRP for movies on Blu-ray also charge pretty high prices for DVDs as well -$25 or even more than that. It's rare that I see "Matrix" style pricing (under $15) anymore for any new movie released onto DVD. Some of the folks telling all the doom and gloom stories about Blu-ray try to imply that any DVD is bargain bin priced right off the bat.

Yep, well said.

 

[dfergie]

Yup... good post, this from a recent convert and devout red blood...

 

[Bobby H]

To be honest, Blu-ray movies at the retail level are really no more expensive than DVD movies were at the time of their introduction. Consider the rate of inflation on the dollar. A movie costing $20 in 1999 values would be like paying $27-$30 today.

Lots of DVDs were priced around $25, with some even commanding $30 or more in the late 1990s. I paid nearly $40 for the Criterion Collection version of Robocop.

If you think the format will be successful at the current prices of media, because you can 'shop around' then the Kool-Aid in here is a little stronger than I thought.

In the early days of DVD a LOT of people did their buying online, just like what is happening today. Eventually the retailers have to take notice and price their offerings accordingly. I've saved a lot of money with buying Blu-ray movies online.

 

[meStevo]

The rumors of Blu-ray's death are greatly exaggerated - Engadget HD

Here's an article somewhat backing up your point, people jumping to conclusions, etc. I like the parallel it makes with VHS and VOD.

The best thing BD has going for it IMO right now is the price point of the low end players. They're going to be the new PS3. People are going to end up buying them because they'll be around the same price as a DVD player 'just in case' they want to do Blu-Ray later. Then every big blockbuster has the potential to put those people in play and entice them to pay the money to get it on Blu-Ray instead.

Just don't buy the rest of your argument, just the pace of technology the last 10 years, you can't compare it to DVD's evolution in a bubble when gas was $1.20, the World Trade Center was still standing and the economy was doing extremely well. Sit on these prices for too long and you'll see these cheap Blu-Ray players only ever play regular DVDs.

 

[harshness]

$150+ is well above the cost of a nice upconverting DVD player. Most areas, the prices are just getting below $200 for the zero-frills players.

 

[Bobby H]

Video Business is reporting that Sears will be selling the Sony BDP-S350 player for $179.99 and the Samsung BD-P1500 for $199 on Black Friday. Both players are profile 2.0 capable models. The same article says the future sales circular has Sears dropping Sleeping Beauty from their price of near $30 down to $18.99.

There is growing speculation that the large number of basic Profile 1.0 players still on the market, such as the Sony BDP-S300, will be marked down to $129.99 or even as low as $99.

Every Blu-ray player available on the market can play standard DVD movies and up-convert them to 1080p, even the old ones. People looking for a replacement DVD player will be able to get one boasting Blu-ray playback capability too for not much more than what an ordinary DVD player costs.

Give it another year or two and you won't be able to find a standard DVD player anywhere anymore. There will only be Blu-ray players that also feature DVD playback capability.

 

[harshness]

People looking for a replacement DVD player will be able to get one boasting Blu-ray playback capability too for not much more than what an ordinary DVD player costs.

On planet Earth, ordinary 1080p upconverting DVD players cost about $50, so triple or quadruple the price isn't what I'm thinking of. You can get a nice upconverting DVD recorder with digital tuner for the price of a Blu-ray player.