Blu-Ray and the cost of future hardware
From the NY Times article:
After Winning the Format War, Blu-ray?s Future Looks Bright
Excerpt to take notice:
Many on here, including myself, have commented that adoption won't take hold until we get below $100. From this article it's clear that this price will have to wait until SONY and it's partners have seen a respectable ROI.
I don't blame them or see this necessarily as a problem. If SONY is smart they will drive more sales of the PS3 by lowering it's price and offering bundle packages that make it a 2 in 1 purchase. At the same time, they should offer readers for that $200 dollar value and burners at $300.
If you make the PS3 within $350 you really do drive more sales of it. People who want a burner will cough up the extra cash for a while and then in the middle of the second quarter of 2009 [April-May] I'd drop the PS3 by $100 and the Burner by $100 and the Player only by $100 effectively bringing the reader down to $100 by June.
After Winning the Format War, Blu-ray?s Future Looks Bright
Excerpt to take notice:
Quote:
?There?s a whole host of buyers for whom Internet connectivity is not as important, who want a stand-alone player they can start enjoying today,? said Chris Fawcett, vice president for Sony?s home video group.
He has a point. If one is unlikely to run an Internet connection to a Blu-ray player in the living room, there?s not much point in waiting for a machine with online capabilities. The picture and sound quality of a 1.0, 1.1 or 2.0 machine are the same.
Buying a Sony PlayStation 3, which incorporates a Blu-ray player, an Ethernet connection and a hard drive, eliminates the problem. Software upgrades can be downloaded, turning a Profile 1.0 machine into a Profile 1.1 or 2.0 machine. For the price of a low-end Blu-ray player ($399), you get a pretty spectacular game system. This is as close as it gets to a free lunch.
The only other factor holding me back is the concern that tomorrow the prices will drop. And they will. Prices fell about 60 percent during the two-year format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD.
The field is still competitive, with at least 10 manufacturers selling machines, so prices won?t stabilize just yet.
Indeed, the head of Sony?s American electronics operations, Stanley Glasgow, recently said he expected a $400 player would cost $300 by Christmas ? a 25 percent drop ? and might be under $200 by the end of 2009.
Mr. Glasgow may be conservative, but there is another factor in play. Chinese electronics companies, which drove down the price of DVD players to the point that they were almost disposable, are not being sold licenses to manufacture the Blu-ray players.
Bruce Tripido, associate vice president for marketing at Sharp?s entertainment division, said, ?If this time around ? and hopefully we?ve all learned something from the first time around ? the technology consortium that owns the technology makes a conscious decision to protect it, and ensures that any company that?s going to manufacture takes a license and protects royalties, then I think the price compression should happen at a reasonable rate.?
One thing is for sure, though. If I run out to buy a Blu-ray player tomorrow (and I just might), even with a low-end Profile 1.0 machine, there?s little chance that I?ll be stuck with the modern equivalent of a $1,000 Betamax.
I can?t wait to tell my kids? friends the news.
?There?s a whole host of buyers for whom Internet connectivity is not as important, who want a stand-alone player they can start enjoying today,? said Chris Fawcett, vice president for Sony?s home video group.
He has a point. If one is unlikely to run an Internet connection to a Blu-ray player in the living room, there?s not much point in waiting for a machine with online capabilities. The picture and sound quality of a 1.0, 1.1 or 2.0 machine are the same.
Buying a Sony PlayStation 3, which incorporates a Blu-ray player, an Ethernet connection and a hard drive, eliminates the problem. Software upgrades can be downloaded, turning a Profile 1.0 machine into a Profile 1.1 or 2.0 machine. For the price of a low-end Blu-ray player ($399), you get a pretty spectacular game system. This is as close as it gets to a free lunch.
The only other factor holding me back is the concern that tomorrow the prices will drop. And they will. Prices fell about 60 percent during the two-year format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD.
The field is still competitive, with at least 10 manufacturers selling machines, so prices won?t stabilize just yet.
Indeed, the head of Sony?s American electronics operations, Stanley Glasgow, recently said he expected a $400 player would cost $300 by Christmas ? a 25 percent drop ? and might be under $200 by the end of 2009.
Mr. Glasgow may be conservative, but there is another factor in play. Chinese electronics companies, which drove down the price of DVD players to the point that they were almost disposable, are not being sold licenses to manufacture the Blu-ray players.
Bruce Tripido, associate vice president for marketing at Sharp?s entertainment division, said, ?If this time around ? and hopefully we?ve all learned something from the first time around ? the technology consortium that owns the technology makes a conscious decision to protect it, and ensures that any company that?s going to manufacture takes a license and protects royalties, then I think the price compression should happen at a reasonable rate.?
One thing is for sure, though. If I run out to buy a Blu-ray player tomorrow (and I just might), even with a low-end Profile 1.0 machine, there?s little chance that I?ll be stuck with the modern equivalent of a $1,000 Betamax.
I can?t wait to tell my kids? friends the news.
Many on here, including myself, have commented that adoption won't take hold until we get below $100. From this article it's clear that this price will have to wait until SONY and it's partners have seen a respectable ROI.
I don't blame them or see this necessarily as a problem. If SONY is smart they will drive more sales of the PS3 by lowering it's price and offering bundle packages that make it a 2 in 1 purchase. At the same time, they should offer readers for that $200 dollar value and burners at $300.
If you make the PS3 within $350 you really do drive more sales of it. People who want a burner will cough up the extra cash for a while and then in the middle of the second quarter of 2009 [April-May] I'd drop the PS3 by $100 and the Burner by $100 and the Player only by $100 effectively bringing the reader down to $100 by June.