Study Finds High Prices, Hamstrung Players Limiting Blu-ray's Dominance

by Darren Murph on April 30, 2008 at 02:11 PM

ABI Research has just confirmed feelings that we've had for months: Blu-ray just isn't going to dominate the market until prices sink down from the stratosphere and players emerge that are fully-featured. A new study from the previously mentioned firm has suggested that we still have "12 to 18 months" before the BD market really kicks into gear, and it specifies that "fully-featured" decks need to come in at $200 or below before the general public will consider coughing up the cash required to make the jump to high-definition media.

It's also noted that many are perfectly satisfied with the quality of DVD, and until prices make it manageable to switch, the outfit feels that huge chunks of consumers will simply stay put. Additionally, we're told that PS3s will "make up over 85-percent of the BD players in the field" during 2008, and we won't see Sony's console fall from the top until 2013 when the installed base of standalone decks / PC-based BD players overtake the installed base of PlayStation 3s. Yeah, you're hearing echoes on that last tidbit. [Source: Business Wire]

[Image courtesy of LA Times]

Tags: bluray, breaking news, BreakingNews, sony

Comments

retro77Apr 30th 2008 3:00PM

Neutral

A good way to force people to buy is to stop producing DVD. But thats like biting the hand that feeds you. Most consumers don't see a need to get the Blu-Ray as DVD works just fine.

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CMay 1st 2008 3:45AM

Neutral

The article is 100% on the spot. Although HD DVD has been dead, it could have made the transition from DVD to HD media a lot smoother and speedier as the available hardware at the time was significantly cheaper with most of the technical bugs resolved. It failed because of poor support from Hollywood studios, the movie rental industry like BlockBusters, and other hardware manufacturers.

BluRay hardware, despite being supported by numerous manufacturers, are too pricy for the majority of consumers. As far as video and sound quality....? If the display video monitor is 32" or less, DVDs actually look pretty OK for most none critical eyes. Most consumers do not even know what lossless and lossy audio means... How many average consumers actually have HD TV sets 42" or larger as compared to medium sized TVs? And how many consumers actually even have a full surround sound system? And for those that do have the multiple speaker set up, how many are of high resolution quality to even appreciate the lossless multipchannel available on BluRay?

Yes, BluRay has gotten many things right to win the HD media battle with HD DVD: it has gotten the support from Holywood studios; it has gotten the OK from BlockBuster and NetFlix (but selection is still rather abysmal as compared to DVDs), and it has gotten the support from most of the major hardware manufacturers; it is also working the kinks out with the techological bugs. But at the end, it still all comes down to 3 other important variables:
1. Price of hardware and software.
2. Availability and selection of HD rental material.
3. TV sizes of the majority consumers.

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