Sony CEO downplays the importance of Blu-ray winning the HD format war

" Sony CEO downplays the importance of Blu-ray winning the HD format war.

Blu-ray and DVD news

By Henning Molbaek
First published Nov 11, 2007

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The CEO of Blu-ray's biggest backer, Sony, Sir Howard Stringer, spoke at an event in New York City. He believed that the war currently was in a "stalemate" and said "It's a difficult fight."

It is clear that it has proved harder for Sony than anticipated to make format rival HD DVD stand down. The CEO now downplays the importance factor of a win, saying that it was mostly a matter of prestige whose format wins out in the end.

He now regrets that he did not fight harder for the opportunity that he believed was there to unite the two camps under one format.

What seemed of more concern for the CEO was the slow Playstation 3 sales. However, he said "We are coming back up again," hoping that recent price drops will help the gaming console against the XBOX 360 and Wii.

Source: Wall Street Journal

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Discuss

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tummybanana

Nov 11, 2007 - CST 4:47 PM

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$ony were worried about this before this war started which is why they had the meeting with toshiba...but in there arrogance they just assumed that they would win and tosh would back down, NOW they are worried because its not going according to there plans.....

Tim Raynor

Nov 11, 2007 - CST 5:09 PM

says... Cooking books.

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I'll tell you what, I'm sticking with Jack Daniels! Jim Beam will die any day now! Yeah, all you Jim Beam supporters, your days are numbered . . . and your little Johnny Walker friend, too!

Love Hendrix!

Nov 11, 2007 - CST 5:19 PM

says... Thanks for visiting DVDTOWN, and enjoy the news!

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...how about some Black Strap Molasses, yummy!

-Love Hendrix! (The Loverboy)

JPSofCA

Nov 11, 2007 - CST 5:21 PM

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I'll go with the format that mandated Dolby TrueHD from the very beginning...end of story...say no more...how could anyone not?

::Sigh:: It really does get old, doesn't it?

andyjsw

Nov 11, 2007 - CST 9:34 PM

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remminds me of George W. Bush saying mission is akomplished. But now he says mission must go on till done.

Tisk, tisk, tisk!

kucoloco

Nov 11, 2007 - CST 11:18 PM

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Falcon01

Nov 12, 2007 - CST 8:01 AM

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Sony is the new comical Ali...

[Post edited by Falcon01 on Nov 12, 2007 - CST 9:30 AM]

patc

Nov 12, 2007 - CST 8:28 AM

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I think this whole format thing is out of hand anyway. If the point was to provide consumers with the best possible viewing experience they would have reconciled the two formats at the beginning and everyone would be happy. Instead corporate greed and ego took over, so this war will still go on for a long time. I went ahead and opted for the blu-ray player and think I'll get a lot of use from it before the war is finally over.

[Post edited by patc on Nov 12, 2007 - CST 8:29 AM]

John J. Puccio

Nov 12, 2007 - CST 11:58 AM

says... "It's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide." --A.E. Neuman

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patc,

Unless the business is purely a hobby, the whole point of any business is to make money. Often, businesses find they can make more money if they have a good product, but not always. Sony and Toshiba each has a good product, but each thought they could make more money individually than together. (There were obviously other complications involving demands from various supporting studios and companies to consider, too, but it all comes down to money.)

John