sony got billions from the saudis

check this out
http://www.betanews.com/article/CES_Trend_1_If_the_format_war_is_over_what_has_Bluray_really_won/1200172289

The link didn't work for me. Try using the little URL devices above to enclose the link address.

John

sorry,

it worked when i just went back on but here's the body of the story.

Jacqueline Emigh, BetaNews: Scott, doesn't the timing of Warner's retraction of Blu-ray support -- just days before CES -- seem a bit strange to you? And isn't that about as odd as the seemingly miraculous rebound in Blu-ray sales from November to December?

At this point, it's kind of hard to believe that it was only this past November that Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer grimly declared the war a stalemate. Industry figures were showing that HD DVD had managed to close its sales gap with Blu-ray in a couple of weeks simply by lowering its prices.

But by December, Stringer was a happy man. Buoyed by an investment estimated at between $500 million and $2.5 billion from Dubai International Capital (DIC)-- a fund controlled by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktuom, ruler of Dubai -- Sony had cut its own pricing on the Blu-ray-enabled PlayStation, and sales had surged back up again in time for Black Friday.

And oh, by the way, a few days after DIC announced its investment in Sony, DIC named Nobuyki Idei -- former chief executive of Sony's chief advisor board -- to the board of its own Global Strategic Equities Fund.

And here we are around six weeks later, after a horrific experience for HD DVD at CES, with some folks already ready to sound the death knell for Toshiba's format.

But ideally, technology wars should be decided on the sole basis of a product's ability to meet the need of its users. And here, Blu-ray and HD DVD each have their advantages and disadvantages.

Blu-ray, for example, is now in the throes of moving from Profile 1.0 to the incompatible Profile 1.1 to Profile 2.0, a format which is expected to introduce still further incompatibilities.

And although Sony and its partners stand to pick up additional revenues from users who decide to upgrade to newer Blu-ray drives, there's every possibility that some of them might migrate over to the HD DVD side, too.

Moreover, Blu-ray products are reportedly more costly to make than those that follow the HD DVD format -- and in many cases today, the price of a Playstation doesn't even cover Sony's manufacturing costs.

So if Blu-ray is in fact going to win the war, it'd really better happen fast, to prevent the kind of price erosion that might interfere drastically with production and profitability

I'm sorry, I can't look at that "article" and take it even remotely seriously. Why? Facts:

1) "doesn't the timing of Warner's retraction of Blu-ray support -- just days before CES -- seem a bit strange to you?" It's well known that Warner withdrew support from HD DVD, not Blu Ray.

2) "And isn't that about as odd as the seemingly miraculous rebound in Blu-ray sales from November to December?" What miraculous recovery are we talking about? Blu Ray beat HD DVD in disc sales for the entirety of 2007. What's more, with more studios on board, Blu Ray also had more blockbuster hits, accounting for more sales.

3) "Industry figures were showing that HD DVD had managed to close its sales gap with Blu-ray in a couple of weeks simply by lowering its prices." Close the sales gap? They sure did. Went from a 2:1 ratio to 1.67:1...another three years and HD DVD will have caught up.

4) "And here, Blu-ray and HD DVD each have their advantages and disadvantages." Yet not a single mention of HD DVD's disadvantages is brought up. Hmmm...

Ya know, this partisan back and forth with "journalists" who supposedly are neutral, yet aren't, is getting REALLY tiresome. I'm sure if I had the time, I could pick apart Jacqueline's "piece" with other inaccuracies.

Jason

Quote:
"Industry figures were showing that HD DVD had managed to close its sales gap with Blu-ray in a couple of weeks simply by lowering its prices." Close the sales gap? They sure did. Went from a 2:1 ratio to 1.67:1...another three years and HD DVD will have caught up.

The reason this was a big achievement in its own right was two facts. 1) Blu-ray had lowered their player prices and cut the price of their PS3 with $200. 2) HD DVD had 50% of the major studios compared with 70% on the Blu-ray side.

Against these odds HD DVD managed to grow its market share.

Now, this does not mean that I find the article very interesting.

[Post edited by Henning on Jan 14, 2008]

Quote:
The reason this was a big achievement in its own right was two facts. 1) Blu-ray had lowered their player prices and cut the price of their PS3 with $200. 2) HD DVD had 50% of the major studios compared with 70% on the Blu-ray side.

No doubt the HD players going down to sub-$100 helped, too.

Jason

No doubt.

see...you support Blu Ray means you support Terrorism.

Buy HD-DVD or, as Dubya would say, "the 'terrists' win"

Quote:
see...you support Blu Ray means you support Terrorism.

Buy HD-DVD or, as Dubya would say, "the 'terrists' win"

And if you support HD DVD, you support Universal (part of General Electric), who sold GE Plastics to Saudi Basic Industries Corp last year.

See, it can go every single way. (I know you were joking, however.)

Jason

Jason, you not only write good reviews but nice rebuttals as well.