'Blu-ray prices not going down yet'

CD, DVD and (Ultra HD) Blu-ray Writers
#1

I just posted the article ‘Blu-ray prices not going down yet’.

Andy Parsons, chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association, openly stated that we don’t have to expect Blu-ray prices to go down any time soon. Parsons said this at the DisplaySearch/NPD HDTV conference…

Read the full article here:  [http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/15035-Blu-ray-prices-not-going-down-yet.html](http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/15035-Blu-ray-prices-not-going-down-yet.html)

Feel free to add your comments below. 

Please note that the reactions from the complete site will be synched below.
#2

If prices remain high, will demand grow? Hmmm… let’s think about this for awhile. I wonder what the answer could be. On one side of the coin, I do have too much money in my bank account and Sony says they’ll help me out with that if I buy their junk. On the other side, the economy is going down the toilet and I don’t know if I’ll have a job tomorrow. I may be eating beans at the local mission next month. Hey, let’s spin the “Wheel of Stupidity” and see what happens.

#3

This is exactly what I hate when there is no competition. When HD-DVD was there Sony, and the BD format people, were doing all it could to want you to go Hidif, now they have won its like they couldn’t really care less.

When its a choice of buying all these films on HD-DVD for 99p from HMV, or £15-£20 for the same transfer of the same film only an idiot would bow down to the winning format. (Note before you look the 99p was an offer HMV had on last week thats now ended).

#4

What have they really won? With high prices for players and movies, most consumers are going to completely ignore blu-ray. They’re just not interested. Toshiba may have the right strategy after all if the blu camp doesn’t lower prices…release a kick ass upscaling dvd player at a decent price. The average consumers I talk to feel fine with upscaling their existing library and see no reason to spend a fortune to upgrade to blu. As VOD and download services catch up to the quality of blu-ray, the arrogance in the “we don’t need to lower prices” statement will come back to haunt them. Just as it did for the initial launch of the PS3.

#5

I love it. “There’s not enough market to lower the price,” Dumbass. The market would grow faster if the price was lower. And only a moron bases price on market share. Base it on cost of production plus a profit margin. And don’t tell me they can’t up production until demand rises, that’s BS. If they want the per unit cost to go down, MAKE MORE UNITS. Corporate idiots. People ARE buying HD tv sets, and it’s a natural to get a DVD palyer to match the new tv. So any production increases they make to get the costs down to under $200 would be covered by the new sales. But I guess they’re just to scared to risk the investment, so they’ll lose all they’ve invested so far. Brilliant. I certainly won’t have any simpathy for them when this format dies from stupidity. Get it over with, die and we can move on to the next big thing.

#6

Lower price increases demand, that first year economics! You have to find the sweet spot in price where priceXquantity gets you the most profit. If you lower the price but it has an exponential increase in quantity sold, you actually make more selling for less.

#7

Well, speaking for the older generation that would like to be into new technology we would probably be ready to buy blu ray however, on a fixed income and with the escalation of the economy decline I have to worry about paying the rent and eating before I go and spend tons of money in order to have blu ray. I just had to buy a new cell phone and I bought one with blu ray technology because of the new blu ray technology one becasue TV is changing to digital and I figure phones are going in that direction also. I am on a very fix income and can’t afford the blu ray video market. I bought a TracFone pay as you go becasue, I don’t chit chat on my cell. I don’t even give out the number. I is only for if I expect an important call while out or need to call for dirctions etc since pay phones are disapearing and businesses aren’t happy to allow you to make a phone call even though it is local. I simply fwd my land line to the cell when I leave home and if the power goes out my broadband phone company, Vonage, will automatically fwd my calls to my cell. I did not however, buy the blu ray star trek ear piece. I find it dumb unless you are so connected to the rest of the world you have to talk to everyone no matter what you are doing or where you are. I am fine with the regular dvd disc largely due to the fact that even HD tv is more than I can afford. I do intend on buying one when someone generously gifts me the cash to buy one. All that to say------even mayo and mustard won’t help make the higher prices of blu ray go down any easier.

#8

"Lower price increases demand"
Does it really? That might have been Economics 101 where you come from but that is not factual. Demand is not directly related to price. Think about that. The US VP Barbie glasses are in great demand not because the japanese company dropped the price but because Barbie (Palin) is wearing them.

#9

@ hillguy
"I just had to buy a new cell phone and I bought one with blu ray technology / did not however, buy the blu ray star trek ear piece."
Oh my God. Dude, you bought Bluetooth technology, not Blu-ray.

#10

Andy is talking about economy of scale and we are not there yet. We made that mistake with DVD. The Taiwanese are still in the red from that economic stupidity. They bet on that demand thing.

Remember economics is irational. I still remember the story about the dutch bulb speculation in the 1600’s or for that matter what we are seeing in the US Wallstreet. Completly irational.

#11

Before this gets too far out of hand with unnecessary name-calling, I’d like to clarify what I actually said at the conference. My comments were in response to a question about when prices will come down on Blu-ray players, suggesting that they are too high relative to DVD. My response was that DVD players did not start at $49 – they were relatively expensive for quite some time after that format launched in 1997. While everyone likes low prices, hardware manufacturers must first achieve sufficient sales volume to justify a lower price point if we are to make any money. One should not simply lower prices without a growing market demand, which must be developed over time. I did NOT say that “there is not enough market to lower prices” – in fact, I specifically referred to a brand name player on Amazon.com for $220 as a clear indication that prices are coming down.
My whole point was that in a healthy market, everyone is rewarded with lower prices because of high market demand coupled with manufacturing economies of scale. This simply takes time. In my opinion, prematurely lowering prices won’t grow the market in a constructive way.

As for subsequent comments about competition, please realize that every CE company competes with others in the same Blu-ray business. The premise that HD DVD’s departure has somehow stopped competition in the market ignores the fact that every single company is trying to attract the same consumers.

– Andy Parsons

#12

@ Andy
"In my opinion, prematurely lowering prices won’t grow the market in a constructive way."
I see your point, but there is simply no way for the studios to justify Blu-ray versions of movies in stores at the $30-$40 range. None. We’re getting ripped off. Period. When DVD players first came out they were $1,000. Blu-ray player prices are about $300-$500. Fine, I can live with that. Right now at FutureShop.ca they’re selling The Untouchables for $26.99 on Blu-ray. DVD version is $9.99. This sort of gouging is unacceptable.

#13

I’ve already seen prices of Blu-ray Disc movies titles go down significantly. It used to be that you couldn’t get a BD movie for less than $20, with the average price around $30. Now I see that Bestbuy has many titles on sale for $15 and there are many deals available online. Of course, new release Blu-ray Disc title prices are still a bit high, so it would be nice if those prices came down a bit.

#14

Players are expensive. That is acceptable. The new release discs being expensive is Unacceptable. It’s nothing more than a rip off. BR movies should be $18, and while were at it, new release DVD’s should be $12. These guys deserve all the pirating they get.

#15

“BR movies should be $18,”

Well, don’t forget all the folks besides the studios that it takes to cripple a BR movie and of course Sony needs a cut for the DRM etc - we get to pay for all of this to protect them from “criminals”.

#16

Atta boy Dukester… I think you should be running for Prime Minister instead of the various boobs that are

#17

@ witchdoctor6969
Thanks. You’re right about the election. Dion will put the country down the toilet. Harper is a tool of the US. Not much of a choice, really.

#18

Dion Carbon Tax aka ( European Emissons Tax) will make sure morons wont’t be using big ass V8 pickup to get a goddman bag of groceries!!

The emissions tax in europe made the big 3 YES YOUR BIG 3 make cars as low in emssions and fuel efficient as any other japonese automaker or even VW!!! WHY ?? Because European Governments have some friken back bone… Your ford focus in PORTUGAL has to get 70 MPG or it won’t be authoriz for sale on the ROAD!!! Bring on the emission tax cause my dream is to get these morons with big ass gas hogs off the friken road !!!
Drive a V8 well then pay i in your weight muhahahahah SUCKA!!!

#19

Most of you have it wrong. If you keep prices high, you can suck the money out of the rich people while your product matures. Then when your goal demand drops, you lower the price a little bit at a time so the middle class can get robbed and the rich feel like it is a bargain. The rich start buying even more. Finally the prices drop more, so the low income family’s can afford them. The middle and rich are buying your product at mind blowing quantities because they are tickled pink that they can buy 2 for 1 compared to what the prices use to be.

Then the profits start leveling off. Everyone including your great grandma and grandpa has one (or five), movies sells are spiraling downwards. Now what? The manufacturers start a new campaign, and this starts all over again.

There is your lessons on economics. Supply, demand, and speculators.
Next lesson: How to rip off your customers unknown, and have them come back for more

#20

Off topic, but Dion has no chance in hell of winning. If he had even an ounce of brains in his head, he would realize that it’s not a good idea to be talking about another carbon tax in B.C. when Campbell and his Provincial Liberals already brought one in that pushed gas over $1.50 a litre. He pretty much commited political suicide in B.C. on that one.