July 12, 2007
Reuters is reporting that HD DVD players are outselling Blu-ray players by a 3-1 margin in Europe, according to The European HD DVD Promotional Group says.
The promotional group says it has a 74% market share for standalone HDTV players in Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland, the Reuters article states.
HD DVD backers, which include Toshiba and Microsoft, made a similar claim in the U.S. recently, saying it had a 60 percent market share here. According to Blu-ray supporters, the PS3 gives the Blu-ray format a 5-1 advantage over HD DVD in the U.S., and the European HD DVD group’s sales totals, which have not been revealed, do not include the PS3 console sales.
Both Blu-ray and HD DVD have lowered prices in recent weeks with Toshiba’s entry-level player now at $299 and Sony’s Blu-ray player at $499, but due to high prices and consumer confusion over the format war, sales have been disappointing for both high-def DVD formats.
A spokesman for the HD DVD group told Reuters that surveys indicate that 70 percent of consumers would buy a high-def disc player if the price was under $200. He refused, however, to say when prices would hit that level. Nonetheless, he assured Reuters that prices will drop into that range.
June 5, 2007
Sony yesterday confirmed that the BDP-S300, its next generation Blu-ray player, will cost $499 — $100 less than the previously announced (and somewhat griped-about) price tag.
Chris Fawcett, VP of Sony Electronics’ home products division, explained that the price cut is due to falling production costs and the growing demand for Blu-ray products.
Sony has been undersold in the market for high-definition disc players by Toshiba, which created the rival HD DVD format. Its players are now selling for less than $300, 14 months after Toshiba’s first player appeared in U.S. stores.
“If the cost of Blu-ray is coming down, you can drop the price of anything with Blu-ray in it,” said analyst Arvind Bhatia. Sony’s PlayStation 3, which features a built-in Blu-ray player, currently $599. Sony officials have said in the past that the Blu-ray component is a reason that PS3 costs $200-300 more than its game console rivals, Nontendo’s Wii and Microsoft’s XBox 360. Sony announced yesterday, however, that it was able to lower the expected price on its new Blu-ray player from $599 to $499 because of new Blu-ray production “efficiencies.”
Bhatia told Dow Jones that a PS3 price cut would quickly boost sales for the console, which has experienced disappointing sales numbers since its launch last November. Wii and Xbox 360 are both selling better than the PS3
“If Sony were to lower the price of PS3 to $499 or $399, it could attract both gamers and high-def owners seeking a less expensive HDTV DVD player,” HDTV maven Phil Swann writes. And I don’t disagree.
Sony is shipping the BDP-S300 this week.
