Blu-Ray hits the skids, numbers continue to decline
One of the driving forces behind Sony's plan for the PS3, Blu-Ray, is showing signs of decline.
The cause could be a variety of factors, from the failing economy to the summer gaming doldrums, but the effect is clear: Blu-Ray as a media format is in decline.
The news has to be worrisome for Sony, whose PlayStation 3 console has the Blu-Ray disc format as a cornerstone of its strategy to get a multi-purpose gaming and media hub into homes the world over.
In response to the sluggish sales, Sony even went so far as to drastically slash its Blu-Ray player prices to the magic US$200 mark, a la Microsoft with the Xbox 360, with other models going for as low as $250 as of this writing. Tech blog Engadget called the new price points "unquestionably delectable," but another observer at the Industry Standard said the cuts and a number of other indicators betray the fact that conditions may not be so rosy.
For example, in the latest Wired magazine, Sony and Microsoft went so far as to include a free Blu-Ray disc, the seven part film noir flick Coma, as part of a full page insert.
"I don't know how much this is costing Sony and its partners, but it can't be cheap -- Wired's paid circulation is 706,494, and this press release indicates that other magazines may be involved," wrote Industry Standard writer Ian Lamont.
Sony is betting the price cuts (and the PS3) will bolster Blu-Ray in time for the winter holiday, but Lamont is wary--especially as more and more consumers turn to the Internet and services like iTunes for their HD content.
"Sony better hope that mainstream consumers feel the same way [about the price cuts], or the company risks another weak Christmas for Blu-ray this year -- and losing out in an even bigger way when consumers begin to turn to the Internet for their HD content," he said.
» posted by ITworld staff
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To what numbers does your
To what numbers does your headline refer ("Blu-ray... numbers continue to decline?"How can you write such a headline without providing the numbers on which that headline is supposedly based.
The latest numbers Sony released show that more than two million PS3s sold in the U.S. this year alone through August, a 92% increase over 2007.
How do you or the others you reference in your post construe that to mean there is a problem?
Scott Hettrick
Why is anyone surprised
Why is anyone surprised Blu-ray is tanking? The hardware, and especially the software, is much too expensive. Upconverted DVD looks just fine on my 50" plasma and I have no interest in switching to a much higher priced format with very limited movie selection. Neither do any of my friends and family members... high prices as well as tepid interest from everyday people is what will kill off Blu-ray in a year or two, or relegate it to tiny niche status at best.the disc included in the
the disc included in the "Wired" magazine is only 25 minutes long.It's not the whole movie.
It's called pro-mo-tion.