Blu-ray closes gap on HD DVD set tops

[stratman]

As reported in Twice:

FEB. 11 | FROM TWICE: Despite aggressive price promotions on HD DVD players from Toshiba, sales of Blu-ray Disc players continued to outsell HD DVD units by a wide margin through the week ending Jan. 26, according to leaked NPD Group reports, but the gap has narrowed significantly from reports issued two weeks earlier.

Dedicated Blu-ray Disc player sales, which omit videogame consoles, represented 65% of unit volume share during the period and 69% of retail sales dollars, according to the leaked data. HD DVD players accounted for 28% of hardware unit sales and 14% of overall high-def disc retail dollars. The remainder can be attributed to combo player sales share at 6% unit sales and 17% dollar share.

 

[frostbyte]

I would guess that many many people are buying PS3's since they are a great player and add the hard drive and gaming for about the same price. So if those numbers don't include gaming, I would say the gap would be even more. Sure the XBox has the capability, but most just like knowing they could do it, but never will. It's only a movie drive at this point since the games do not require it and are only DVD capacity. PS3 actually uses blu ray on some games.

 

[MUDSHARK]

Too bad this site does not allow polls. I would be interested in knowing how many purchased the PS3 for games vs how many purchased for BLu=Ray.

 

[frostbyte]

Doesn't mean people can't post it. ^_^ I bought it for the movies, but liked the ability to play games. I bought 6 movies so far and one game plus it came with one. Very happy with it thus far. It's only been a month though.

 

[gus6464]

I originally bought it for movies but then I started to by a lot of games. I blame COD4 for that!

 

[dnice555]

Yeah COD4 is sick but better on x-box!

 

[Seth=L]

Yeah COD4 is sick but better on x-box!

I am wondering, how is this?

What about Devil May Cry, any word on which platform the game is better on?

 

[The Chukker]

I am wondering, how is this?

There is a very interesting article in Electronic Gaming Monthly this month explaining this. Basically it has to do with the lead time that the 360 had in the marketplace, a lot of developers have had a lot more time to wrap their heads around the 360's hardware and have developed tools for it. The PS3 is an intrinsically more powerful machine, but its esoteric design is more difficult to program for (not to mention the lack of tools made available to 3rd party developers up until now). Most developers, Infinity Ward included developed titles like COD 4 with the 360 in mind and then basically "ported" the design over to the PS3. This is especially evident in The Orange Box. But the good news for you PS3 owners is that the pendulum is now swinging the other way, developers are no longer developing a "lead" version of their software and in most cases, multiplatform games will start looking better on PS3; currently Burnout Paradise is a good example of this.

 

[The Chukker]

What about Devil May Cry, any word on which platform the game is better on?

IGN.com's video review claims the color palette is a little better on the 360 (more VRAM than the PS3), but the PS3 version runs smoother.
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/849/849246p1.html

 

[dobyblue]

So much for price being the #1 consideration.

Looks like the "Content is King" mantra continues to ring true.

Blu-ray hardware (no PS3) outsold HD DVD hardware 60/40 throughout December.

Yet the HD DVD camp still likes to include the PS3 when touting attach rates and exclude it when touting hardware sales. Guess they won't be talking about hardware sales for much longer.

I'll be very surprised if Toshiba doesn't introduce a dual format player or standalone Blu-ray Disc player later this year. It's obvious they're liquidizing their HD units at the moment.

 

[stratman]

So much for price being the #1 consideration.

Looks like the "Content is King" mantra continues to ring true.

Blu-ray hardware (no PS3) outsold HD DVD hardware 60/40 throughout December.

Yet the HD DVD camp still likes to include the PS3 when touting attach rates and exclude it when touting hardware sales. Guess they won't be talking about hardware sales for much longer.

I'll be very surprised if Toshiba doesn't introduce a dual format player or standalone Blu-ray Disc player later this year. It's obvious they're liquidizing their HD units at the moment.

That's what I think is happening over at BB, they're slowly phasing out HD DVD. Eventually Toshiba will have to produce Blu-ray players, the other choise being SD DVD only, I don't think that Toshiba is blind, if anything they see the big picture, why pass up profit.

 

[ParkerAudio]

Price of hardware though drove HD DVD to 80% of market share on hardware, versus the obvious 20% Bluray, for the fourth quarter 2007.

I am not sure why, but I have seen various numbers posted stating a staggering number of PS3 owners don't use the bluray player for movies. That seems ridiculous to me. I have seen numbers as high as 50%, but as low as 10%. Either way seems like a low amount, considering Blurays phenomenal advantage over DVD's.

What really won the war here appears to be Sony's desire to finally get a format to the mainstream market place. Offering tons of money to anyone that wanted some.

 

[aberkowitz]

Price of hardware though drove HD DVD to 80% of market share on hardware, versus the obvious 20% Bluray, for the fourth quarter 2007.

I am not sure why, but I have seen various numbers posted stating a staggering number of PS3 owners don't use the bluray player for movies. That seems ridiculous to me. I have seen numbers as high as 50%, but as low as 10%. Either way seems like a low amount, considering Blurays phenomenal advantage over DVD's.

What really won the war here appears to be Sony's desire to finally get a format to the mainstream market place. Offering tons of money to anyone that wanted some.

What you're missing is that HD DVD's "hardware blitz" had very little to do with HD adoption and more to do with consumers snatching up players at good deals with free movies. I would bet that 75-85% of the people who bought an A2/A3 at Walmart for $99 have no clue what HD DVD is, but they needed/wanted a new DVD player and they heard about this player being touted as a "Great deal", and oh look Ma- it comes with 5/8/10 free movies after rebates and special offers. Very few of these people ever planned to rent or buy another HD DVD for the foreseeable future.

The movie studios and the retail stores aren't stupid- they saw right through Toshiba's penetration attempt, and since they tend to have better sales figures than the general public, they knew exactly how well HD DVD was doing vs. BD. If any studio had truly thought this hardware penetration maneuver would have worked, they would have jumped aboard the HD DVD bandwagon back in October.

 

[ParkerAudio]

You have got to be kidding yourself if you think people didn't know they were buying HD DVD players. Countless people left the store thinking to themselves that HD had finally become affordable to them. They certainly didn't believe that they had only bought an upscaling DVD player. Upscaling certainly is a harder concept for John Q to get his head around, than HD DVD.

And I don't think people thought they would be selling these units for that price in October. That was a surprise to many.

If it wouldn't have been for Warner's defection to Bluray, for whatever reason, many believe Sony bought them off, the battle would still be raging strong. However, as everyone knows, unless something drastic happens, HD DVD is dead.

Now hopefully Bluray can complete it's final profile and stop selling half baked equipment. Or else they can face not only the SD format, but the class action Attorneys, whom are currently suing Samsung.

 

[aberkowitz]

You have got to be kidding yourself if you think people didn't know they were buying HD DVD players. Countless people left the store thinking to themselves that HD had finally become affordable to them. They certainly didn't believe that they had only bought an upscaling DVD player. Upscaling certainly is a harder concept for John Q to get his head around, than HD DVD.

WE can agree to disagree- but I think that's absolutely the case. Ask the average person to explain HD DVD or Blu Ray and they will have no clue. The community of knowledgeable people about CE products is very small- the rest of the world is inherently stupid and ignorant (just as I would be about a variety of other products)- how else do you think companies like Bose and Monster are able to stay in business???

Or else they can face not only the SD format, but the class action Attorneys, whom are currently suing Samsung.

Class action lawsuit in regards to what? Sorry- I haven't heard anything... could you post a link?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Now hopefully Bluray can complete it's final profile and stop selling half baked equipment. Or else they can face not only the SD format, but the class action Attorneys, whom are currently suing Samsung.

I can't believe they sued Samsung. Everyone knows that 1st Generation products of any kind will have issues.

 

[ParkerAudio]

Yeah, we will just have to disagree on the point that people didn't know they were buying HD DVDs. I understand that the majority of the public don't know much about this new technology, but to say they understand upscaling but not HD DVD would be quite a stretch. Of course you could always throw those idiots in with the ones that haven't used their PS3 for bluray movies.

As far as the Samsung suit, it has been on the news a few times, and in the papers. I will post a link, but you can also google it and have a ton of sources come up.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/09/samsung-sued-for-defective-blu-ray-players/

 

[ParkerAudio]

I can't believe they sued Samsung. Everyone knows that 1st Generation products of any kind will have issues.

People today have little patience with a product that doesn't work right, and everyone is looking for a free buck. If it says Bluray player, it better play Bluray. My wife is a corporate defense attorney, and when people sue they sue everyone. The guy that owns the building that the business resides in, the business that sold the product, the guy that brought the product to the store, the distributor center that the product came from, all the people that sold parts to the company that made the machine, and then the company that produced the item. And I am sure that I missed a few people.

If those first generation bluray players, end up not playing future Bluray movies, expect more of the same.

 

[aberkowitz]

I can't believe they sued Samsung. Everyone knows that 1st Generation products of any kind will have issues.

Plus class action lawsuits have very little to do with consumers, and everything to do with lawyers.

 

[ParkerAudio]

Yeah, remember when they sued the pants off of Blockbuster, got a ton of money, and everyone else got a free movie rental.