Comments on: Sony: $200 Blu-ray players next year

Sony Electronics President Stan Glasgow tells East Coast media that price cuts eventually will come to its high-definition video players.

[chrisfrary]

Damn

Figures Sony, they should have never won. They are going to recoup their costs for the next 2 years.

[RompStar_420]

get PS3

PS3 is a great machine. It is a game machine, it can run research programs in the background, it has a web browser and when you get tired of that, they officially support Yellow Dog Linux, you just switch and boot into Linux (they should have allowed for memory upgrades). TO top it off, it's a Blue Ray player as well.

They are working on an add on to turn it into a DVR, like TiVO but without the monthly fees, network for playing games is free, it has a great video camera for video conferencing.

Buy a freaking PS3 and your problems will be over.

[tsi26]

ehh

Still too much! Talk to me when the price point hits $50. Then we'll talk. AND I have an HDTV. Regular DVD's are just fine for me.

[FellowConspirator]

I think $100...

... for more people, $100 is probably the sweet spot. I would
also hazard a guess that the majority of people are already very
comfortable ripping DVD content and will expect to at least do
the same on their computers, and international consumers and
travelers are used to code-free players. I imagine the platform
will still be a second-class citizen until gray market players and
ripping software for BD are relatively easy to come by.

Further BD uses quite a bit more energy than HD-DVD did, so,
whereas it would have been practical to put HD-DVD in laptops,
there's some engineering to do before BD is practical for
laptops.

It's kind of a shame. The thing that's really crimping consumer
HD video nowadays is lack of an inexpensive and portable HD
medium for recording and distributing. I can buy a really nice
HD camera for a decent price, but I have to transcode code it
into a DVD to share with friends/family/coworkers/clients.

[grossph]

Just Wait...

Sony may not be producing sub $200 players, but now you have the remaining 10 or so manufactures competing with each other...that is the real competition not HD DVD vs Bluray. I bet you will see a $199 BD player this christmas...how did Toshiba do it with the HD DVD...do you think they are really all that different inside?

[FellowConspirator]

very different.

HD-DVD was basically a modification of existing DVD technology
and implementation and licensing was both simple and
inexpensive. Blu-Ray uses a different laser and recording process
and licensing is more expensive as are the components. Blu-Ray
also uses significantly more power than HD-DVD (which didn't use
any more than regular DVD), meaning lower battery life on battery
powered units (in laptops).

[pugster]

Greedy Sony

This is the Royalties that Manufacturers have to pay Sony every time for Blue Ray.

Blu-Ray Drive : $30
Blu-Ray Player and Console : $60~70

This is for HD-DVD Drive.
HD-DVD Drive : $7 net royalty($5 DVD royalty is included in $12 combined royalty)

I sincerely hope that CH-DVD players and dvd's will come out that will make Sony look bad.

[ceebee23]

what a surprise...

witht eh end of the format war suddenly prices for Blu-ray players stop coming down ...funny that!

And what about high definition recorders?

No mention of a home recorder that can record HD content?? (other than PVRs for temporary).

Sony has a couple of models in Japan but has not released them elsewhere and they cost a fortune.

[sevort]

Time for Toshiba to reverse its decision...

Time for Toshiba to reverse its decision to abandon HD-DVD... After news like this, the studios might reconsider too... :)

[shanewalker]

Nerdnesia...again.

Every time, it seems, we get a new generation of technology, the
same sad voices reappear disdaining the process of the ramp-
up and the eventual price-drops.

Grow up children, and quit doing so much dope, it's ruining your
memory. Do you know how long after the format launch it took
to get the prices down to $200 on quality DVD players--exactly.

Not everything should be made in China with cut-rate quality
control, just to placate those w/ no adult sense of delayed
gratification. How are those Xbox failure rates working for you
moaner folks (mine died after 3 weeks)? That was a good
move...cost above, you know, quiet operation and reliability.

If only the rest of our commodities operated like consumer
electronics/computers...did you get a supersonic car for a
fraction of what you paid for you last one you bought. Right.
Why folks are so unrealistic with their expectations in these
things is because they've been irrevocably spoiled by the
insanely fast progress and cost efficiency of the industry for the
past 20+ years.

Smile and enjoy.

[meh130]

Staggering Ignorance of Economics

Why would anyone believe less competition lead to lower prices?

This is "Econ 101". Scratch that, this is High School Economics.

People should understand the economic impact of a competitor leaving the market.

Indeed, it reveals the staggering ignorance of Economics which exists in the United States.

[shanewalker]

And the REAL competitor's are...!?

The real competitors to Blu-ray are a complacent ignorant
marketplace that is 'just fine' w/ upscaled SD DVDs and the
insurgent force of digital downloads (in the rental market, that is).

They've got plenty of reason to bring prices down, even w/ HD-
DVD moving out of the proverbial picture.

[Heebee Jeebies]

Wow...

They expect people to wait a year for the price to drop to what they should have been from day one? Right, I will keep my credit card warm and ready. Sony can bite me!

Robert