WSJ: Retailers Slash Blu-Ray Player Prices

[Bobby H]

On planet Earth, ordinary 1080p upconverting DVD players cost about $50, so triple or quadruple the price isn't what I'm thinking of. You can get a nice upconverting DVD recorder with digital tuner for the price of a Blu-ray player.

On planet Earth, wasting money on dying technology is still wasting money. Want to buy my old VHS deck? I'll sell it to you for $50. Hehe.

When you buy something that can only "unconvert" you're still stuck in blurry standard definition. Upconversion will never equal real high definition. And then you're still stuck having to buy something in a year or two that can handle Blu-ray.

 

[diogen]

In the early days of DVD a LOT of people did their buying online...

In the early days of the DVD everybody and his dog were planing to be millionaires by the weekend: create an Internet company, go public, cash out and retire to Monaco.
In the (not so) early days of BD the only questionis is whether the next few years will be just as bad or worse than the 1929-1933.

There will only be Blu-ray players that also feature DVD playback capability.

You meant there will be DVD players that also play some obscure format with a misspelled Blue in its name?

On planet Earth, wasting money on dying technology is still wasting money.

Very true. But what is that dying technology, again?...

Diogen.

 

[nonrev]

Video Business is reporting that Sears will be selling the Sony BDP-S350 player for $179.99 and the Samsung BD-P1500 for $199 on Black Friday. Both players are profile 2.0 capable models. The same article says the future sales circular has Sears dropping Sleeping Beauty from their price of near $30 down to $18.99.

There is growing speculation that the large number of basic Profile 1.0 players still on the market, such as the Sony BDP-S300, will be marked down to $129.99 or even as low as $99.

Every Blu-ray player available on the market can play standard DVD movies and up-convert them to 1080p, even the old ones. People looking for a replacement DVD player will be able to get one boasting Blu-ray playback capability too for not much more than what an ordinary DVD player costs.

Give it another year or two and you won't be able to find a standard DVD player anywhere anymore. There will only be Blu-ray players that also feature DVD playback capability.

I wouldn't wish a buggy profile 1.0 or most 1.1 players on anyone. A % of the movies won't even play on them.

 

[FreddyvsJasonvsAsh]

AMEN!!!

 

[teachsac]

AMEN!!!

While Samsung may be buggy, many 1.0 and 1.1 players still play every movie thrown at them, including my BD10. If you're not into BD live or Pip, there is nothing wrong with them. I've yet to find anything compelling in either format within the internet features. Harry Potter Hosting was novel for a devoted fanbase. I don't see it working with Sleeping Beauty.

S~

 

[FreddyvsJasonvsAsh]

see I'm into the special features...so I would need a machine that it worked on

 

[vurbano]

I do not think that streaming or downloads will kill BD but I do think they are fiddling away their time and movie prices are way too high. I think eventually Their time will run out and something else may replace them if they do not get prices down.

 

[teachsac]

I do not think that streaming or downloads will kill BD but I do think they are fiddling away their time and movie prices are way too high. I think eventually Their time will run out and something else may replace them if they do not get prices down.

Agree. There are a lot of good deals out there if you are willing to look. Unfortunately, Universal and Fox pricing is out of line with the the rest of the studios. Luckily Universal doesn't charge the same for catalog titles as Fox does. Prices are not that much different than when DVD came out. Unfortunately, today's economy isn't as bright as it was then.

S~

 

[meStevo]

see I'm into the special features...so I would need a machine that it worked on

I used to listen to all commentaries and whatnot of a movie... for some reason I've gotten away from this. It might be because im not arms length from the TV while sitting in front of my computer anymore... could be cause other than gag reels and deleted scenes my wife doesn't care for that stuff... I don't know, viewing habits have just changed.

As a result, other than titles I've 'got to have' an easy streaming solution may be the answer for me if Netflix can get to the point where it's offering to stream new releases in a reasonable time after they're released. They're not there yet, but the rest of it is... satisfactory image quality, the prospect of HD looming, and an appealing buffet-style pricing structure.

If BD media wasn't so expensive I'd probably not even consider Netflix and keep buying. I'll continue to buy the must-haves, but the nice to haves will stay on store shelves instead of being added to my collection or will be purchased on SD - never to be repurchased on BD

 

[diogen]

Luckily Universal doesn't charge the same for catalog titles as Fox does.

Probably because of the BD+ licensing fees...
Now, that the doom9 gang has cracked it (i.e.you don't have to pay for software that does it), maybe they will abandon it and drop the prices...

One can dream, right?

Diogen.

 

[teachsac]

Probably because of the BD+ licensing fees...
Now, that the doom9 gang has cracked it (i.e.you don't have to pay for software that does it), maybe they will abandon it and drop the prices...

One can dream, right?

Diogen.

Where ya been. It's been a while. They'd better start dropping prices with the economy if they want to sell. Blu-ray is doing a total advertising push right now saying all the new moview are available on BD.

S~

 

[Bobby H]

With DVD, I made the mistake of buying too many movies on impulse -blind buys I wound up watching only once or twice and then leaving on the shelf to collect dust. I'm trying not to make that mistake with Blu-ray even if the disc prices drop considerably. Shelf space is valuable too. Now I'm renting a lot more than buying.

HD video on demand will have to improve both the image quality and pricing structure to get me to use it. Otherwise I'll just keep stopping by Hastings and Hollywood Video when I'm out getting groceries, fuel, etc.

You meant there will be DVD players that also play some obscure format with a misspelled Blue in its name?

No. I meant exactly what I said. No silly paraphrasing is necessary. DVD had its time. Since it is merely 480p standard definition and nothing better its days are numbered.

 

[teachsac]

No. I meant exactly what I said. No silly paraphrasing is necessary. DVD had its time. Since it is merely 480p standard definition and nothing better its days are numbered.

What do you consider numbered? The only way DVD dies is if studios suddenly decide to stop making them. Not happening. Last year DVD shipped its most software units ever 8.9 billion units. 33.5 million hardware units. Both will coexist.

S~

 

[dlsnyder]

Yes, for a time vinyl LPs and CDs co-existed. Now LPs are limited to special releases and are very hard to find. And while they are plentiful for now, even CD sales are starting to drop thanks to downloading, and the different ways that consumers listen to music now. Blu-ray and DVD will probably continue to co-exist for many years due to the installed base of DVD players over the last 10 years. Anyone who bought an upconverting DVD player is probably not going to invest in Blu-ray soon, and may be more inclined to go with some sort of downloading option like Vudu in the near future. Many older people (I must include myself here) prefer physical media because it is comfortable and familiar. My kids will probably have entirely different ideas about how to watch video content since they have grown up with alternatives like You Tube.

 

[paja]

Want some good buys on blu-ray? Check out Tweeter if you have one near. They have been bought up by liquidators and have closed distribution centers sending all merchandise out to the stores. I don't think they will last much longer. Maybe some good buys to be had.

 

[Bobby H]

What do you consider numbered? The only way DVD dies is if studios suddenly decide to stop making them.

Look at the hardware side of the situation. That's the first area where DVD is going to be hit. Electronics companies will phase out the production of new DVD players. I'm predicting most will disappear from stores within 18 to 24 months. Wal-Mart will probably be the last place anyone will be able to buy a DVD player by the end of 2010 -and even Wal-Mart push out DVD. They made an announcement about expanding Blu-ray sections in certain stores and reducing music CD stock to create space for that push on Blu-ray.

Blu-ray player prices have been falling into increasingly affordable levels over the last few months. The newest BD player from Panasonic, the DMP-BD35K (a BD Live model) has a list price of $299. Some players are now reaching below the $200 price level. There's lots of news about $150 or lower prices on certain BD player models for Black Friday. We're not done with 2008 yet.

In 2009 at least eleven different Chinese companies will start mass producing Blu-ray players and exporting them to other markets, including the United States. I think it's safe to say we'll see at least a few new player models selling below $99 before the end of 2009.

Once the prices get to those low levels there won't be any reason for electronics stores to continue carrying devices that play DVDs but not BDs. Every Blu-ray player can also play DVDs. Just about every Blu-ray player can work with a standard definition TV. It is a foregone conclusion that anyone looking for a DVD player to replace another one that malfunctioned will eventually be stuck with buying a Blu-ray player to play those DVDs.

Electronics manufacturers didn't have to incorporate S-Video and composite video outputs onto Blu-ray players. They could have went only with component and HDMI for HD-only output. They could have done without 480p output capability. Instead, they went with those backward compatible measures to make a Blu-ray player into a good transitional device to ease someone into high definition.

 

[teachsac]

Look at the hardware side of the situation. That's the first area where DVD is going to be hit. Electronics companies will phase out the production of new DVD players. I'm predicting most will disappear from stores within 18 to 24 months. Wal-Mart will probably be the last place anyone will be able to buy a DVD player by the end of 2010 -and even Wal-Mart push out DVD. They made an announcement about expanding Blu-ray sections in certain stores and reducing music CD stock to create space for that push on Blu-ray.

Blu-ray player prices have been falling into increasingly affordable levels over the last few months. The newest BD player from Panasonic, the DMP-BD35K (a BD Live model) has a list price of $299. Some players are now reaching below the $200 price level. There's lots of news about $150 or lower prices on certain BD player models for Black Friday. We're not done with 2008 yet.

In 2009 at least eleven different Chinese companies will start mass producing Blu-ray players and exporting them to other markets, including the United States. I think it's safe to say we'll see at least a few new player models selling below $99 before the end of 2009.

Once the prices get to those low levels there won't be any reason for electronics stores to continue carrying devices that play DVDs but not BDs. Every Blu-ray player can also play DVDs. Just about every Blu-ray player can work with a standard definition TV. It is a foregone conclusion that anyone looking for a DVD player to replace another one that malfunctioned will eventually be stuck with buying a Blu-ray player to play those DVDs.

Electronics manufacturers didn't have to incorporate S-Video and composite video outputs onto Blu-ray players. They could have went only with component and HDMI for HD-only output. They could have done without 480p output capability. Instead, they went with those backward compatible measures to make a Blu-ray player into a good transitional device to ease someone into high definition.

Good luck. You can't ignore software either. Software through rental and sales in 2007 was 23.7 billion dollars. So far, DVD software sales are right on target with 2007.

DVD hardware sold 33.5 million units in 2007 alone in NA. More than 1/3 of that came during the fourth quarter alone during the HD push, 12.6 million units. In 2007, about .7 million standalone BD players were sold. Unit sales of HD players from inception to the end of 2007 in NA was 4.5 million, including gaming machines, BD, HD-DVD. Sales of BD players was supposed to surpass DVD players by August according to BD promotion group, but it has not even come close. So far through the first two quarters, DVD hardware sales are at 11 million units. Blu-ray SA player sales are only going to hit 2.38 million units in 2008 according to research groups.

S~

 

[navychop]

"...Sales of BD players was supposed to surpass DVD players by August according to BD promotion group..."

I hadn't heard that. Link? Sounds way too soon, far more optimistic than anything I've read.

Surely, the price of BD players will decrease. If the cost to the consumer to have a player that plays both (plus CD flavors) is small enough, they'll go for the flexibility (usually). For the B&M, it is easier to make a buck on a higher priced item, so there's a push there, too, even if it's only a slightly higher priced item.

Eventually, a large majority of players sold will be able to play both DVDs & BDs. When? I have no idea. Prices have already dropped much faster than I anticipated. And I've come to own two BD players far sooner than I expected. And I'll own 3, if OPPO ever gets off their butt.

I doubt DVDs will ever disappear, at least in my lifetime. But I do see BDs eventually surpassing DVDs in both dollar and unit sales. They simply offer so much more, soon for so much less additional cost.

Side note: I recently saw CIRQUE DU SOLEIL KOOZA. Great show. As we left, I said to my wife "I wouldn't give $20 for a DVD of this show, but I'd pay $50 for a Blu-ray version." Granted, not everyone would feel that way. But a lot of people that go to that kind of show would.

 

[meStevo]

Overall I like Bobby H's post about hardware, I just think that in the short term, we're more likely to see players hit a certain price and kind of stick to that until the proliferation of the chinese players, so that it represents a premium over normal DVD players and the CE companies enjoy a period of profit taking themselves.

 

[navychop]

Could be, could be. Just a matter of how long. Looks like the prices have tanked faster than the CEs would like already. I'm sure they'll try to hold the line.