Blu-ray player prices going up

[jinjuku]

Well, whowhouldathunkit? BR player prices are going up check it out.

 

[Johnd]

Well, whowhouldathunkit? BR player prices are going up check it out.

Awww, shucks. Just when I was just going to trade in my A35's (For $499 each that I bought at TD for $169).

What is one to do?

 

[bigbangtheory]

This is why competition and profit motive are always a good thing.

I learned that in 8th grade economics class, btw.

 

[allargon]

But, but things would be better for the consumer if there were just one format.

 

[Johnd]

This is why competition and profit motive are always a good thing.

I think some from the BD camp have alluded to the proposition, without ever really mentioning it, that when only one format exists, more people will purchase BD players, consequently driving the price down. I don't see that happening...unless they first lower the prices. Catch 22.

I learned that in 8th grade economics class, btw.

Me too.

 

[MUDSHARK]

Well, whowhouldathunkit? BR player prices are going up check it out.

Stratman's not going to take it kindly stealing his thunder like this.

 

[Johnd]

Stratman's not going to take it kindly stealing his thunder like this.

Oh oh.

The funny thing is, as anti HD and pro BD as strat is...he owns neither, and does not plan on buying in until the end of the year ("Black Friday"). I fear either BD will be dead by then, or the prices will have quadrupled.

 

[patnshan]

I think I'll get a PS3 so I can play games on it when Blu Ray fails It's a joke, but may not be that far off from the truth if the prices don't come down.

Many people can't buy food and gas, let alone a $400 half baked Blu Ray player. The fully baked one's (BD50) will surely be over $500

Pat

 

[Alamar]

As I posted in another thread earlier it's not easy to repeal the laws of supply & demand.

For players the supply is relatively static. You could even consider that there is slightly less [economic] supply due to a lack of competition from competitors willing to sell at cut-throat prices. So supply is roughly the same or has gone down.

Since Blu won the format war it looks like demand for Blu players are going up.

Hmm .. supply same or down combined with demand up -> prices up

************************************************

I honestly expect this will turn around when:

1. More companies start producing BD players.
2. More pressure from the BD group to lower prices to spur demand for content.

I could go into further analysis but the "8th grade" version above should be good enough for government work

 

[dobyblue]

I fear either BD will be dead by then, or the prices will have quadrupled.

Well, the latter certainly isn't going to happen.

Sylvania's just announced their profile 1.1 BD player for June 15th, 2008 with an MSRP of $399.

Given that Amazon's players normally list between 20-30% off the MSRP, that would put the Sylvania at between $279 and $319.

My money says it will be sub-$250 by Christmas and BD will be very much alive.

 

[dobyblue]

Is this the Mark Raby article? Can't you trace the doom and gloom regarding Blu-ray in all his articles?

Wow, the list price has gone up $40 since a few weeks after Christmas. That's a first in consumer electronics isn't it?

What a conspiracy theory you guys have uncovered.

Newsflash, the MSRP on the players he's mentioning hasn't budged at all recently, he's just comparing the average prices on Price Grabber.

Tsk, tsk.

"Pursuing the Truth in Audio & Video"

Yah, right.

 

[dobyblue]

Oddly enough the current lowest prices on Price Grabber are:

Samsung BD-P1400 - $352
Sharp BD-HP20U - $350
Sony BDP-S300 - $357
Panasonic DMP-BD30 - $414

..and the first thing you see on the site is:

Ha, ha, prices sure are going up aren't they!
I'll bet the BD-P1500, the next Sharp, the Panasonic DMP-BD50 and Sony BDP-S350 are all going to list for around $999, it's just craziness!!

 

[Johnd]

Well, the latter certainly isn't going to happen.

Sylvania's just announced their profile 1.1 BD player for June 15th, 2008 with an MSRP of $399.

Given that Amazon's players normally list between 20-30% off the MSRP, that would put the Sylvania at between $279 and $319.

My money says it will be sub-$250 by Christmas and BD will be very much alive.

Well, we'll see. I agree they should be at that pricepoint by then (manufacturing and r&d costs go down over time). Failure to be at a "reasonable price" in the proximate future will not bode well for the format. Without competition, keeping prices high is tantamount to greed, and short-sightedness. Either way, I believe BD days are numbered (whether that be two years or three...I don't know). And I believe they need to do much to get out of the niche market they've always been in...that's all.

Btw: where do you propose we find a BDP1400 for $229 (now, as your ad suggests)? Refurbs are more than that.

Well, here it starts guys.

 

[j_garcia]

EVERYTHING is going to go up thanks to oil/fuel prices...

 

[dobyblue]

Well, we'll see. I agree they should be at that pricepoint by then (manufacturing and r&d costs go down over time). Failure to be at a "reasonable price" in the proximate future will not bode well for the format. Without competition, keeping prices high is tantamount to greed, and short-sightedness. Either way, I believe BD days are numbered (whether that be two years or three...I don't know). And I believe they need to do much to get out of the niche market they've always been in...that's all.

Yes, and if your post was dated June 1999 and was about DVD you could have been bang on the money too, but it turned out DVD prices fell and later that year, in September 1999, two and a half years after the format launched, DVD finally had a title sell 1,000,000 copies; The Matrix.

I believe BD's days are numbered too, but I believe it will be in about 20 years, not 2-3.

As to the niche market, the format is still 3 months away from its 2nd birthday, so I don't think they have to be concerned about anything just yet. If they weren't seeing any growth then there'd be reason for concern, but there is growth. SonyDADC have already replicated over 115 million Blu-ray Discs. (Keeping in mind they're running lots of BD-ROM for PlayStation 3 games also)

Prices will continue to fall. This time last year $799 was a good price for a non-PS3 player, now it's $350. Soon it will be $300, then $250, then $200, etc.

Fox just dropped their MSRP's on over 20 catalogue titles by $10.

Without competition? So Pioneer, Denon, Onkyo, Oppo, Sony, Samsung, Sharp, Sylvania, Funai, Arcam, Loewe, Panasonic, Philips, etc., are not going to be competing with each other to get the consumer to buy their product?

Do Sharp, Sony, Vizio, Samsung, etc., not compete with each other for LCD products?

Do Pioneer, Samsung, Hitachi and Panasonic not compete for plasma products?

Are all Windows based PC manufacturers not competing with each other?

 

[dobyblue]

Btw: where do you propose we find a BDP1400 for $229 (now, as your ad suggests)? Refurbs are more than that.

Oh, no, that's not my ad. I'm not in the retail business.
That's an ad from Price Grabber.

http://www.secondact.com/product/BDP1400RB?meta=PRICEGRABBER-BDP1400RB

That's $229 for a refurbished BD-P1400, exactly as the ad suggests.

 

[Johnd]

Oh, no, that's not my ad. I'm not in the retail business.
That's an ad from Price Grabber.

http://www.secondact.com/product/BDP1400RB?meta=PRICEGRABBER-BDP1400RB

That's $229 for a refurbished BD-P1400, exactly as the ad suggests.

Hah. The cruel joke in what you write is the fact that there are so many refurbed BD players.


And yes j, most everything will go up in price because of energy costs. I think that will be furthered for BD because of little competition. But we'll see...

 

[Alamar]

Well, the latter certainly isn't going to happen.

Sylvania's just announced their profile 1.1 BD player for June 15th, 2008 with an MSRP of $399.

Given that Amazon's players normally list between 20-30% off the MSRP, that would put the Sylvania at between $279 and $319.

My money says it will be sub-$250 by Christmas and BD will be very much alive.

Currently the lowest price on Amazon is basically 400$ [just searched and sorted by price low-to-high]. IIRC this price is higher than it was a month or two ago ....

As far as prices dropping I would expect to see sub 300$ units around Black Friday to Christmas and possibly sub 200$ units by the same time the next year. This of course assume production costs go down and the Blu Group gets serious about competing with DVD .....

 

[PENG]

But, but things would be better for the consumer if there were just one format.

People still compare BD vs HD DVD with VHS vs Beta. May be such comparison is not valid due to change in time and technology. MacIntosh is still alive and well! Crossovers are getting quite popular but body on frame 4X4 with low range are still selling.

For now, I am enjoying my $69.97 machine that comes with the perfect storm and firewall. I will likely buy a BD profile 2.0 if and when they hit the $150 mark. I am sure it will eventually, or they may not survive.

 

[MUDSHARK]

Perhaps Blu Ray will only be a niche market like DVd-Audio. DVD-Audio is largely a play toy for me with all of seven albums. Not only will players have to not exceed 200 for the masses, the movies will have to be comparable to regular dvd prices.