Re: HD DVDs demise seem to push Blu-ray prices up

You know I saw the price hike coming as well prior to the demise of HD DVD but there is more than just the reason "Sony now has the market and will force the consumers to buy" (although I am not denying that this is one small bit of the reason). The reason I see the average prices raising is instead supply and demand mixed in with marketing.

Prior to HD DVD's collapse many consumers did not want to buy into a format that could be gone within a couple years, so manufacturers of the products had to lower their prices and sell at basically cost (in Toshiba's case less than cost, same said with Sony's PS3). Now with the format war over the manufacturers can finally start making more margins on their product so the prices receive a temporary price incline. Over time as the costs of producing get lower the player's prices will drop. Probably following a similar curve to what DVD had. As with people who are talking about the different profiles I just have to say anyone who buys a blu-ray player in the next year is not necessarily in the right to complain about lack of usability. I remember DVD players and how the first generation of people had to suffer as the studios started to adapt to the technology, that is where I have to give HD DVD that one. They made their technology similar enough that it was easy to make, however in a couple years I am sure we will see Blu-ray having features that would never be possible on HD DVD. So basically I am saying wait until the main stream have entered the HD format market then you will see the prices at a lower amount and you will get the bang for your buck.

The main flaw with the argument in the article, is it doesn't take into account that around this time of year that prices of all consumer electronics goods generally go back closer to regular price. You have to remember the prices for Blu-Ray players were lower a few months ago because it was the fourth quarter shopping season and retailers had much better sales. Even if HD-DVD hadn't died and it was still a stalemate, I bet Blu-ray player prices would still be about what they are now. This is the time of year retailers can't rely on volume and instead try to make as much as they can per unit sold.

[Post edited by Movielover316 on Mar 5, 2008]

I knew this would happen. At least if I decide to start buying Blu-Ray I already have a PS3
Only problem is I need to buy an HD-TV because Blu won't look any better on my 19" SDTV.

What? No more after Christmas discounts from the cheapest online retailers? Hey, it's not like it's March or anything... umm... oh wait! It is March. Sorry, ignore this post.

I agree that prices at this time of the year tend to go up. However, the fact that the HD DVD A3 and A30 were priced lower than any of the Blue-ray players was enough to put pressure on the Blue-ray camp to keep their prices as competitive as possible. Now that HD DVD is out, they don’t have to worry about this and prices naturally went up. We can only guess at how much lower or higher prices would have been if the HD DVD camp was still alive, but sure the competition would have put an additional downward pressure on prices to our benefit.

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What? No more after Christmas discounts from the cheapest online retailers? Hey, it's not like it's March or anything... umm... oh wait! It is March. Sorry, ignore this post.

Well, January is not Cristmas and it was clear that it happened after HD DVD was going downhill. The same reason we have not seen any new Blu-ray sales on Amazon since HD DVDs demise. We also saw that they removed Spider-man 3 from their PS3 and player at the same time. When HD DVD prolonged their free movies offer blu-ray did the same and with them gone they did not. The list is long.

It really is simple business logic that when the competition is gone you try to maximize your profits. That is why it is no big surprise and why I personally understand why you would want to try get some money back on your investment. HD DVD would no doubt have done the same if they had won.

[Post edited by Henning on Mar 5, 2008]

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Well, January is not Christmas and it was clear that it happened after HD DVD was going downhill.

True, but many retailers are still providing "after Christmas" sales during January hoping to capitalize on gift cards. I think you are right however, it's a little bit of everything contributing to the price increase. However I would highly doubt that prices will stay this high during the fourth quarter if they're truly committed to mass market adoption.

The days of purchasing HD discs in the Blu-ray format has now helped remove any list prices under $35.00 which is revealed when you look up all the discs to be released by the smaller companys that had held out until now. No price under a list of $34.95 for such providers as Tartan. There are a few titles that are now listing at $49.99 for a single disc release. They have generally had lower prices on DVD than the majors and now are at or above those prices now they are producing Blu-ray discs.
When is takes 6 months to get a blu-ray production line going this is going to be tough for those of us who found HD discs at prices lower than their DVD counterparts during the "competition" (I prefer that to the word "war".
Actually if you have an HD-DVD player [and remember people who have had their DVD player for 6 years or more] it will play all those HD-DVD discs that you can now get for as low as $9.95 from an on-line at a site with the initials DDD and at Amazon.
If you have a collection, as I do, they will continue to play.
Incidently in all the talk about the PS3 and its amazing playback of Blu-ray, I have ten friends who purchased that machine and have never purchased or rented a singel Blu-ray disc. They do buy, rent and play DVDs.

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i must point out that adopting blu WAS the right thing.i would be gutted if i had paid £200+ for a A35 and then would have to fork out another £200+ for a blu-ray player

What does it mean to be gutter? For the place that started English you guys aren't very good at it. A gutter is for holding rain water. Duh!

[Post edited by KungFuTaco on Mar 5, 2008]