Blu-ray Players to Hit $150 In 2009

[Bobby H]

And the people who buy gaming consoles tend to buy a $40 game, and play it for months - not watch it once, and put it in a collection.

Most console games don't get discounted to $40 levels until after they've been on store shelves for quite some time. A new release like Killzone 2 usually commands a $55-$60 price.

I won't speak for everyone, but if I'm only going to watch a movie once I'll simply rent it. I'll only buy a BD movie if it's something I know I'll watch numerous times.

BD rentals often do cost significantly more than DVD rentals. I pay $5.99 to rent a BD movie for 7 days at Hastings. If I return the movie in 24 hours I get a $2 credit on my account. Hollywood Video charges $5.50 for 5 day BD movie rentals.

Compare those BD rental prices to what it costs to rent movies in HD on PPV. It's $5.99 or more for a mere 24 hour rental. Dish Network's 1080p VOD service charges $6.99. Apple provides 24 hour rentals of 720p HD movies with DD 5.1 audio for $6.99. And the video quality of those rentals really stinks bad. It's quite laughable.

 

[satjay]

I think many people are shopping with want VS need. Many may have upconvert players (I am one) that are playing just fine for them, I dont have a problem with the picture on my HD TV. Many people are holding on to things untill they cant use them and for some things, if it can be repaired instead of buying a new one they may not do that.

Though I think people are not going to repair DVD players

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Though I think people are not going to repair DVD players

Hehe... I remember bringing a VHS player in to get repaired, years ago. But I was a grad student, and could not afford to replace it; at $250 it was an expensive piece of hardware.

 

[Bobby H]

I don't know for certain what will happen regarding Blu-ray movie pricing. However, I am absolutely certain DVD-only players will disappear from retail stores in as little as a year or two.

Every Blu-ray player can also play DVD movies as well as up-convert them for 720p or 1080p output. Just about any Blu-ray player can be connected to standard definition TV sets and even used strictly for just playing legacy DVDs. Those factors, along with falling prices of BD players will lead to DVD-only devices disappearing.

We've already seen BD players dip below the $150 price level. I'm certain we'll BD players offered below $100 this year. $99 or less BD players could be a common thing by "Black Friday" in November.

 

[meStevo]

Every BD player can be manufactured even more inexpensively as a DVD player, that will always be the case because of licensing.

With the latest analyst forecasting 'only' 50% of disc sales will be Blu-Ray by 2012, DVD players will be sold for a long time.

 

[BK94541]

I just bought my first blu-ray player Sony S550 model for my 1080P TV..ya is AWSOME.. But I have another TV is 1080i and have progressive scan DVD player, I connected to my TV with component cable for years. When I compare with my blu-ray player picture and 1080p TV, cant real tell which is which I guess is all about the feather menu and capacity that’s all. Is same old picture to me!

 

[navychop]

At Costco yesterday I saw a large display of Blu-ray titles, mostly for $15 or $16. Some less than $10. Go check out your local Costco.

 

[SatinKzo]

I just bought my first blu-ray player Sony S550 model for my 1080P TV..ya is AWSOME.. But I have another TV is 1080i and have progressive scan DVD player, I connected to my TV with component cable for years. When I compare with my blu-ray player picture and 1080p TV, cant real tell which is which I guess is all about the feather menu and capacity that’s all. Is same old picture to me!

What blu-ray movie you using for comparison? What movie on the dvd player?

I know one movie that to my sister was night/day was Prince Caspian. She was very impressed when she first saw it on blu-ray. So much, it prompted her to go buy a blu-ray player and buy blu-ray movies she liked.

None of you know her, but she's someone who normally could care less between VHS/DVD/ and even HD TV to an extent. Even she noticed the audio difference and she is now evaluating finally getting a real surround setup. She does love to watch movies and to her, blu-ray is a movie watchers dream format (best at this time)

 

[Bobby H]

With the latest analyst forecasting 'only' 50% of disc sales will be Blu-Ray by 2012, DVD players will be sold for a long time.

The software situation has little to do with it. People who want to stick with DVD can do so, even if they end up replacing a broken DVD player with a unit that happens to have Blu-ray capability.

Any previous home video format examples, such as the long transition from VHS to DVD, isn't applicable in this case.

A more appropriate example would be the shift from CD-R/RW drives in computers to DVD-/+R/RW drives. All the DVD-based drives maintained backward compatibility with CD-ROM media. It didn't take long at all for computer manufacturers to ditch CD-based drives completely. We're now seeing a similar shift, starting with desktop computers, in moving to Blu-ray combo drives. They maintain all the DVD-RW and CD-RW compatibility along with adding BD playback in the same device. In another year or two BD combo drives will become a standard equipment item and full blown BD burners will see major price drops.

Retail stores will have more incentive to push DVD-only players off their shelves in favor of Blu-ray capable devices since the Blu-ray movies are more profitable. They're really not making much money at all selling DVD players for under $50 and DVD movies at "loss leader" pricing out of the bargain bins.

 

[meStevo]

It's a very good argument, but I think licensing will keep normal DVD players on the shelves cheaper than BD for quite some time. They're forming a new consortium to make it simpler, so now it will 'only' be $9.50 per player, and $14 for a recorder for a collected Blu-Ray/DVD/CD license. Not sure what it is now but you have to go to each partner to license or something. It's a big step toward what you are expecting, but I think it's a ways off still.