Blu-ray Player Prices Hit 2008 Highs As Competition Dwindles

On Mar 14, 4:31 pm, Steve Irving <sd... RemoveThis @nospamqwest.net> wrote:

> In the US, I only see the prices of these items getting higher and higher as the
> value of the dollar sinks lower and lower.......

This is true, even if supply increased it's getting more expensive to
buy things in dollars.

Today's rates:

http://www.xe.com/

$1 US =
0.63822 = Euros
0.49475 = Great Britain Pounds
99.2560 = Japanese Yen
0.98633 = Canadian Dollar
1.06684 = Australian Dolllar
0.99879 = Swiss Francs
23.5908 = Russian Rubles
7.08939 = Chinese Yuan
7.94124 = South African Rand
10.7603 = Mexican Pesos

- Jordan

p.s. Australian gamers are getting screwed. Their dollar is on par
with ours right now, but their games are hideously more expensive.

Grand Theft Auto IV for $120?
http://www.gpstore.com.au/Games/1515493.html

Condemned 2 for $100?
http://www.gpstore.com.au/Games/1551467.html

Crazy...

- Jordan
 >> Stay informed about: Blu-ray Player Prices Hit 2008 Highs As Competition Dwindles 

On Mar 14, 1:57 pm, The alMIGHTY N <natle... DeleteThis @yahoo.com> wrote:

> Weren't there people claiming that now that there was only one format
> and everyone could dedicate their efforts to the advancement of that
> format, prices on hardware and software could only drop?

I think the argument was along the lines of "Well, the reason we
aren't selling any is because people are confused what to buy. They
don't know which to pick so they aren't buying either."

Now that HD-DVD is gone the Blu-Ray fans are going to have to come up
with another reason that they aren't selling. Since there aren't two
competing platforms they won't be able to hide behind pie charts
anymore and the actual numbers are really quite depressing.

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6422898.html

"Consumers bought around 250,000 units of Blu-ray movies during the
month, compared to the estimated 125,000 units of HD DVD movies,
according to industry sources."

OK, so HD-DVD has it's strings cut, retailers are unloading discs at
bargain prices (Best Buy put all their HD-DVD discs on sale for 30%
off) and despite this Blu-Ray only manages to double the sales of a
dead format in February?

Let's put this in perspective so the trolls can understand it...

The Xbox 360 sucks, right? Nobody wants it, nobody plays it and yet
Devil May Cry 4 (which isn't even a particularly good game), by
itself, sold more units on the Xbox 360 than EVERY SINGLE BLU-RAY
TITLE COMBINED for the month of February.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6187799.html

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - 360 - 296,200 units
Devil May Cry 4 - 360 - 295,200
Wii Play - Wii - 290,000
Devil May Cry 4 - PS3 - 233,500
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - Wii - 222,900
Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games - DS - 205,600
Lost Odyssey - 360 - 203,600
Turok - 360 - 197,700
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - PS2 - 183,000
Rock Band - 360 - 161,800

So... the top 5 Xbox 360 games for February outsold all Blu-Ray titles
COMBINED at a rate of 4.62 to 1.

Individual title sales on Blu-Ray must be measured in thousands, tens
of thousands at best.

- Jordan
 >> Stay informed about: Blu-ray Player Prices Hit 2008 Highs As Competition Dwindles 

On Mar 14, 7:59 pm, Jordan <lu... RemoveThis @earthlink.net> wrote:

> http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6422898.html
>
> "Consumers bought around 250,000 units of Blu-ray movies during the
> month, compared to the estimated 125,000 units of HD DVD movies,
> according to industry sources."

Oops, my bad. The entire basis of my post appears to have been using
February 2007 numbers. DOH!

At least we have a baseline for when the February 2008 numbers are
released.

- Jordan
 >> Stay informed about: Blu-ray Player Prices Hit 2008 Highs As Competition Dwindles 

"Robert P Holley" <holleyrp RemoveThis @delanet.com> wrote in message
news:08eea539-c059-478c-834f-497920467a6f@d45g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
>I suppose it's the nature of business.
>
> http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/03/12/blu_ray_player_prices_hit_2008_...hs_as_c
>
> "Pricewatch - Blu-ray Disc players from Samsung, Sony and Sharp are
> now the most expensive they have been all year, presumably because HD
> DVD's exit from the high-def disc arena has removed some of Blu-ray's
> pricing pressure.
>
> Although HD DVD was always seen as a distant second in the HD format
> war, it constantly received attention because of the lower cost of its
> players. Because of this, standalone Blu-ray players were not moving
> off store shelves very steadily."

Yep_ The ones that truly lost in this war are we the consumers!
 >> Stay informed about: Blu-ray Player Prices Hit 2008 Highs As Competition Dwindles 

"Robert P Holley" <holleyrp DeleteThis @delanet.com> wrote in message
news:08eea539-c059-478c-834f-497920467a6f@d45g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
>I suppose it's the nature of business.
>
> http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/03/12/blu_ray_player_prices_hit_2008_...hs_as_c
>
> "Pricewatch - Blu-ray Disc players from Samsung, Sony and Sharp are
> now the most expensive they have been all year, presumably because HD
> DVD's exit from the high-def disc arena has removed some of Blu-ray's
> pricing pressure.
>
> Although HD DVD was always seen as a distant second in the HD format
> war, it constantly received attention because of the lower cost of its
> players. Because of this, standalone Blu-ray players were not moving
> off store shelves very steadily."

that darn format war was "hurting" consumers! lolz
 >> Stay informed about: Blu-ray Player Prices Hit 2008 Highs As Competition Dwindles 

>>
>
> In the US, I only see the prices of these items getting higher and
> higher as the value of the dollar sinks lower and lower.......


No, don't worry about your currency sinking. Electronics will only get
cheaper and cheaper. Just give blu ray a chance to develop and it will
get nice and cheap.

The real issue is the price of the dvds. When we start seeing six dollar
and ten dollar blu rays, then watch out......it will really take off.
 >> Stay informed about: Blu-ray Player Prices Hit 2008 Highs As Competition Dwindles 

Steve Irving wrote:

> Kinda like gas these days.....the current record pricing for oil in the
> US is not currently tied (like it was) to supply and demand. The prices
> are currently rising because the value of our money is decreasing.

Your prices are not rising nearly as fast as the dollar is dropping.
I'm European, but my work takes me to the USA quite often. I use these
oportunities to buy stuff there 'cause it's so cheap: clothes, movies,
music, PS3, games... The price tag just seems constant regardless
of the current value of the dollar.
I believe that the oil prices influence the value of dollar more
than the other way around.
 >> Stay informed about: Blu-ray Player Prices Hit 2008 Highs As Competition Dwindles 

"The alMIGHTY N" <natlee75 DeleteThis @yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:cdbd5ada-73eb-441c-8fa9-
> Weren't there people claiming that now that there was only one format
> and everyone could dedicate their efforts to the advancement of that
> format, prices on hardware and software could only drop?

Prices WILL drop. The format is still in its infancy. Are you really
saying that 1 year from now you don't think hardware prices will be
substantially lower than they are now?

Just because there is ONE format, doesn't mean there is only ONE company
producing these players. If Samsung wants to sell more than Sharp, they'll
have to lower cost. If Sharp wants to sell more than Sony, they'll have to
lower cost.

You guys act like "blu-ray won...now there is no reason to ever lower
costs", which is about as insightful as saying "HD TV won, now there is no
reason we'll ever see lower TV prices".
 >> Stay informed about: Blu-ray Player Prices Hit 2008 Highs As Competition Dwindles 

On Mar 14, 10:59 pm, Jordan <lu... DeleteThis @earthlink.net> wrote:
> On Mar 14, 1:57 pm, The alMIGHTY N <natle... DeleteThis @yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > Weren't there people claiming that now that there was only one format
> > and everyone could dedicate their efforts to the advancement of that
> > format, prices on hardware and software could only drop?
>
> I think the argument was along the lines of "Well, the reason we
> aren't selling any is because people are confused what to buy. They
> don't know which to pick so they aren't buying either."

That was a different, earlier argument. I often commented how much I
loved the format war because of how quickly it drove prices down and
someone (not a gaming group regular) countered that prices would have
been lower if there were only one format, stating that if everyone was
pouring all their resources into the one format, costs would go down
and thus prices would quickly drop.

Sounded fishy then and it seems to be turning out as bullshit now.

> Now that HD-DVD is gone the Blu-Ray fans are going to have to come up
> with another reason that they aren't selling. Since there aren't two
> competing platforms they won't be able to hide behind pie charts
> anymore and the actual numbers are really quite depressing.
>
> http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6422898.html
>
> "Consumers bought around 250,000 units of Blu-ray movies during the
> month, compared to the estimated 125,000 units of HD DVD movies,
> according to industry sources."
>
> OK, so HD-DVD has it's strings cut, retailers are unloading discs at
> bargain prices (Best Buy put all their HD-DVD discs on sale for 30%
> off) and despite this Blu-Ray only manages to double the sales of a
> dead format in February?

30%? That's it?

There are a bunch of HD DVDs at $9.99 right now. Of course, they're
sold out in most stores. I can hit one local Best Buy and pick up
about two or three dozen at either $9.99 or $10.49, though.

> Let's put this in perspective so the trolls can understand it...
>
> The Xbox 360 sucks, right? Nobody wants it, nobody plays it and yet
> Devil May Cry 4 (which isn't even a particularly good game), by
> itself, sold more units on the Xbox 360 than EVERY SINGLE BLU-RAY
> TITLE COMBINED for the month of February.
>
> http://www.gamespot.com/news/6187799.html
>
> Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - 360 - 296,200 units
> Devil May Cry 4 - 360 - 295,200
> Wii Play - Wii - 290,000
> Devil May Cry 4 - PS3 - 233,500
> Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - Wii - 222,900
> Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games - DS - 205,600
> Lost Odyssey - 360 - 203,600
> Turok - 360 - 197,700
> Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - PS2 - 183,000
> Rock Band - 360 - 161,800
>
> So... the top 5 Xbox 360 games for February outsold all Blu-Ray titles
> COMBINED at a rate of 4.62 to 1.
>
> Individual title sales on Blu-Ray must be measured in thousands, tens
> of thousands at best.
>
> - Jordan
 >> Stay informed about: Blu-ray Player Prices Hit 2008 Highs As Competition Dwindles 

On Mar 15, 11:27 am, "Big Daddy" <nos....DeleteThis@yahoo.com> wrote:
> "The alMIGHTY N" <natle....DeleteThis@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:cdbd5ada-73eb-441c-8fa9-
>
> > Weren't there people claiming that now that there was only one format
> > and everyone could dedicate their efforts to the advancement of that
> > format, prices on hardware and software could only drop?
>
> Prices WILL drop. The format is still in its infancy. Are you really
> saying that 1 year from now you don't think hardware prices will be
> substantially lower than they are now?

The statement I was referring to claimed that Blu-Ray prices would
start dropping immediately now that there was only one format and
everyone could dump their resources into advancing it.

I understand that "immediately" doesn't necessarily mean this very
second, but it certainly is a far cry from prices going up.

> Just because there is ONE format, doesn't mean there is only ONE company
> producing these players. If Samsung wants to sell more than Sharp, they'll
> have to lower cost. If Sharp wants to sell more than Sony, they'll have to
> lower cost.
>
> You guys act like "blu-ray won...now there is no reason to ever lower
> costs", which is about as insightful as saying "HD TV won, now there is no
> reason we'll ever see lower TV prices".

Did I ever say that? You should learn to read.

My stance is that now that HD DVD has folded, Blu-Ray manufacturers
and publishers don't have the same incentive to lower prices that they
did before and retailers don't have the same incentive to have great
sales that they did before.

And one thing that definitely SHOULDN'T be happening is prices going
up.
 >> Stay informed about: Blu-ray Player Prices Hit 2008 Highs As Competition Dwindles 

On Mar 14, 11:21 pm, really real <reallyr....DeleteThis@shaw.ca> wrote:
> > In the US, I only see the prices of these items getting higher and
> > higher as the value of the dollar sinks lower and lower.......
>
> No, don't worry about your currency sinking. Electronics will only get
> cheaper and cheaper. Just give blu ray a chance to develop and it will
> get nice and cheap.
>
> The real issue is the price of the dvds. When we start seeing six dollar
> and ten dollar blu rays, then watch out......it will really take off.

We won't see $6 and $10 Blu-Rays regularly at retail for many years.
 >> Stay informed about: Blu-ray Player Prices Hit 2008 Highs As Competition Dwindles 

On Mar 18, 3:32 pm, Doug Jacobs <djac....TakeThisOut@shell.rawbw.com> wrote:
> In alt.games.video.sony-playstation2 The alMIGHTY N <natle....TakeThisOut@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > The statement I was referring to claimed that Blu-Ray prices would
> > start dropping immediately now that there was only one format and
> > everyone could dump their resources into advancing it.
> > I understand that "immediately" doesn't necessarily mean this very
> > second, but it certainly is a far cry from prices going up.
>
> I would think that prices would start dropping later this year. I'm a bit
> confused as to why prices INCREASED though. If anything, I expected that
> they'd be pretty flat until Christmas time.
>
> > My stance is that now that HD DVD has folded, Blu-Ray manufacturers
> > and publishers don't have the same incentive to lower prices that they
> > did before and retailers don't have the same incentive to have great
> > sales that they did before.
> > And one thing that definitely SHOULDN'T be happening is prices going
> > up.
>
> I agree that prices shouldn't be going up. Probably what happened was
> that manufactuers were feeling pressured by the lower-cost HD-DVD
> equipment to artifically drop their prices and cut deeply into their
> already thin profit margins. With HD-DVD now gone, they can raise their
> prices back to where they would have been had HD-DVD never been around.

If HD DVD had never been around, prices would be a lot higher than
they are now. Even these bumped up prices we see now are victims of
the intense pricing competition between HD DVD and Blu-Ray.

> However, this is only temporary as prices should start dropping later this
> year.
>
> --
> It's not broken. It's...advanced.
 >> Stay informed about: Blu-ray Player Prices Hit 2008 Highs As Competition Dwindles 

In alt.games.video.sony-playstation2 The alMIGHTY N <natlee75.RemoveThis@yahoo.com> wrote:
> The statement I was referring to claimed that Blu-Ray prices would
> start dropping immediately now that there was only one format and
> everyone could dump their resources into advancing it.

> I understand that "immediately" doesn't necessarily mean this very
> second, but it certainly is a far cry from prices going up.

I would think that prices would start dropping later this year. I'm a bit
confused as to why prices INCREASED though. If anything, I expected that
they'd be pretty flat until Christmas time.

> My stance is that now that HD DVD has folded, Blu-Ray manufacturers
> and publishers don't have the same incentive to lower prices that they
> did before and retailers don't have the same incentive to have great
> sales that they did before.

> And one thing that definitely SHOULDN'T be happening is prices going
> up.

I agree that prices shouldn't be going up. Probably what happened was
that manufactuers were feeling pressured by the lower-cost HD-DVD
equipment to artifically drop their prices and cut deeply into their
already thin profit margins. With HD-DVD now gone, they can raise their
prices back to where they would have been had HD-DVD never been around.

However, this is only temporary as prices should start dropping later this
year.

--
It's not broken. It's...advanced.
 >> Stay informed about: Blu-ray Player Prices Hit 2008 Highs As Competition Dwindles