Bluray Hurt By Economy?

[JayVe]

MCV is reporting that the economic downturn could hamper Bluray's adoption, even going so far as to suggesting the format may never recover from the 'global penny pinching' (http://www.mcvuk.com/news/32332/Credit-crunch-could-be-Blu-rays-death-knell).

Credit crunch could be Blu-ray’s death knell

“The economy is the biggest challenge, because there are just so many pieces to the Blu-ray puzzle that consumers face,” Disney’s general manager of domestic home-entertainment Lori MacPherson stated. “You need the high-definition television set, you need the player, you need the cables, you need the software.”

Sony also admitted at the gathering that it might reconsider its current pricing policies – though not until after Christmas. Sony VP of business development Rich Marty added: “We're all constantly looking at (disc) pricing. What it amounts to is that we'll wait until after the fourth quarter and see how it goes.”Well, the quote from the Sony VP tells me that if we don't buy Bluray discs, that prices will come down.

[DigitalFirefly]

BluRay movies that cost more than $20 is what's hurting BluRay.

[JayVe]

BluRay movies that cost more than $20 is what's hurting BluRay.

Don't buy any Bluray discs until after the new year. If the companies see that sales are dropping, they'll lower the price and stop the gouging.

[violent]

I thought everything was being hurt by the economy.

[Grifter]

BluRay movies that cost more than $20 is what's hurting BluRay.

$300+ players and the requirement of an HD capable display doesn't help matters much either.

[KingGorilla]

Free and cheap video online is why Blue Ray is stagnant. BBC, Hulu, Amazon Unbox, Itunes, Netflix. For the Olympics, NBC reported that a full third of people watched online, ten percent watched exclusively online. Ten percent is a number one show.

Dvd is staying the same, BlueRay is stagnant, online consumption and availability is rising fast.

[JayVe]

Free and cheap video online is why Blue Ray is stagnant. BBC, Hulu, Amazon Unbox, Itunes, Netflix. For the Olympics, NBC reported that a full third of people watched online, ten percent watched exclusively online. Ten percent is a number one show.

Dvd is staying the same, BlueRay is stagnant, online consumption and availability is rising fast.

We watched the Olympics online this year, exclusively. Also, we take full advantage of NetFlix streaming. It is the freaking best thing to happen to video in AGES.

[DigitalFirefly]

$300+ players and the requirement of an HD capable display doesn't help matters much either.

I've got a PS3 and haven't bought a BluRay in a couple months. I try and buy when they're on sale for under $20. There haven't been many good sales since HD-DVD died. I used to buy a lot with the BOGOs, now it's always B2G1 with crappy movies, or ones that I have.

[biosc1]

First week release prices for SD-DVD and Blu-Ray are comparable. It's in the backlog catalogue that there is a discouraging difference in pricing.

Hellboy 2 Blu-Ray = $29.99 (http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0665000FSm2156694&logon=&langid=EN)

Hellboy 2 3-disc SD-DVD = $26.99 (http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0665000FSm2158410&logon=&langid=EN)

With the same featurettes.

What studios should really do is do what Disney did with the Sleeping Beauty Blu-Ray, include an SD-DVD disc of the movie with the package.

We watched the Olympics online this year, exclusively. Also, we take full advantage of NetFlix streaming. It is the freaking best thing to happen to video in AGES.

For most people the quality is just fine. Like those people who are annoyed with seeing the refresh on a CRT monitor, I'm annoyed to no end by artifacting and compression in video.

[hideouslywrinkled]

BluRay movies that cost more than $20 is what's hurting BluRay.

QFT. I was going to buy some to use with my PS3... but it's harder to spend $20 on a movie I own on DVD and can upscale. Dark Knight might be my first Blu-Ray purchase. And only if I can find it for around $15.

[maharahaj]

First week release prices for SD-DVD and Blu-Ray are comparable. It's in the backlog catalogue that there is a discouraging difference in pricing.

Places like Best Buy typically offer all new DVDs in the $16-19 dollar range for the first week. Meanwhile, BR discs might start at $26 or $27, which is quite a difference. Any place that has DVDs on sale for over $20 the first week out (excluding boxsets obviously) will never get my business for anything.

[JayVe]

Places like Best Buy typically offer all new DVDs in the $16-19 dollar range for the first week. Meanwhile, BR discs might start at $26 or $27, which is quite a difference.

This is what I notice when looking through the weekly circulars. It sure does give the impression, to millions, that Bluray is 2x as expensive as the regular DVD. No doubt, people can find deals... but you can also find deals on DVD... making them EVEN CHEAPER!

[biosc1]

Places like Best Buy typically offer all new DVDs in the $16-19 dollar range for the first week. Meanwhile, BR discs might start at $26 or $27, which is quite a difference. Any place that has DVDs on sale for over $20 the first week out (excluding boxsets obviously) will never get my business for anything.

Well...I forgot to mention the prices I quoted are Canadian prices, so we're a little more expensive as our dollar has taken a dive lately.

[VerseD]

Free and cheap video online is why Blue Ray is stagnant. BBC, Hulu, Amazon Unbox, Itunes, Netflix. For the Olympics, NBC reported that a full third of people watched online, ten percent watched exclusively online. Ten percent is a number one show.

Dvd is staying the same, BlueRay is stagnant, online consumption and availability is rising fast.

I really hope companies like Comcast don't initiate bandwidth throttles to stop people from using online video streaming, because it's doing a lot of good for the television and movie industry.