Is Sony intentionally trying to kill Blu-Ray?

[techs]

I was in Best Buy today looking around and noticed that Blu-Ray home players were still way overpriced. Ignoring the cheap off brand the cheapest was a Samsung for 250. The rest were 300 dollars or more.
I can get a Sony blu-ray drive at NewEgg for 79 bucks.
Maybe the economics escape me, but if decent blu-ray players were 149.00 they would be flying out the door, I believe.
It's almost as if Sony intends for home blu-ray players to be a niche market for the videophile instead of the mass market replacement for dvd's.

 

[dbk]

Sony isn't really known for price cuts.

 

[2Xtreme21]

*Checks MSRP of a 2.5 year old PS3*...

 

[duragezic]

Maybe they were selling well at that price still. The current economy may be changing that, but in general a lot of those things were overpriced but people were still buying. Almost as if people expected they needed $3,000 for a new HDTV, HD player, etc. The price of BluRay movies each is pretty ridiculous for the most part too. And don't forget the $100 HDMI cable that people still thought they needed. Retailers and manufacturers must have loved that shit.

 

[Bignate603]

DVDs are still good enough for most people and they see no reason to upgrade. Bluray isn't really a mainstream product yet.

 

[n yusef]

Blu-Ray isn't majorly successful because many people don't care that much about picture and sound quality. 20 minutes into a movie, I forget if it's in 1080P or streaming in Flash.

 

[middlehead]

A lot of the problem is licensing. The primary developers of the BluRay standard still haven't incorporated a consortium to centrally license production. Anybody who wants to build devices and wasn't in the development to begin with has to license from every developer individually. Supposedly, this will be fixed soon.

 

[Baked]

Why are you buying from Best Buy in the 1st place?

 

[slpaulson]

Nobody buys them because they are expensive, and they remain expensive because they aren't made in enough volume. Also, Sony sucks.

 

[aircooled]

I'm sure I saw sub $200 ones a few days ago. Even one with the Sony name.


edit: the sony one I saw was on clearance. Sylvania's a Walmart is sub $200

 

[LegendKiller]

Blu Ray is choking on it's own success and, as I predicted, prices haven't come down significantly on disks or players. BD players are still more expensive than HD DVD players were when Toshiba was waging its price war. Competition is good.

 

[boomhower]

I can live with $300 players but the $30 discs kill it for me.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: boomhower
I can live with $300 players but the $30 discs kill it for me.

thats what gets me. $30 disc where the regular are $14 just does nto make it worth it.

 

[Capt Caveman]

I can't remember where but I saw an ad for a Samsung Bluray player for $199 recently.

It takes time for prices to go down. DVD players took years for them to get down to affordable prices for the masses.

Also, that pc Bluray drive for $80 requires a pc with appropriate graphics and sound cards.

 

[esun]

The price will come down, just as it did for every video technology that preceded it. Early adopters always pay a premium. Just look how cheap a DVD-ROM drive is nowadays ($20), and recall how they used to go for $200.

 

[aircooled]

My PC Blu-Ray cost $700 a couple years ago (company paid for it), now they are under $100.

It'll come down. In a year I bet you'll be able to get stand alones for $99 or less.

 

[Dacalo]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: boomhower
I can live with $300 players but the $30 discs kill it for me.

thats what gets me. $30 disc where the regular are $14 just does nto make it worth it.

I have over 20 blu-ray movies and I have not paid over $18 for a movie with exception of Band of Brothers ($33) and Planet Earth ($40). I never understood why people would shop at overpriced stores like Best Buy for electronics.

 

[jlee]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: boomhower
I can live with $300 players but the $30 discs kill it for me.

thats what gets me. $30 disc where the regular are $14 just does nto make it worth it.

That would be why I'm buying $5 HD DVDs.

 

[tfinch2]

I bought my Sony S350 for $179.

 

[ChaoZ]

I call the $30 discs a tax on lazy shoppers.

 

[gorcorps]

It's news that the B&M stores are charging more than you can get online? Say it aint so!

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: n yusef
Blu-Ray isn't majorly successful because many people don't care that much about picture and sound quality. 20 minutes into a movie, I forget if it's in 1080P or streaming in Flash.

This

 

[JackBurton]

Give me a freakin' break, $300 is a decent price for a good quality Blu-ray player. If you can't afford it or it is more than you are willing to pay, that's YOUR problem. Sony doesn't need to appease the Wal-Mart shopper to have Blu-ray become successful. As a matter of fact, Blu-ray is doing damn fine as it is. And if you ask me, it is doing better than fine which is starting to piss me off. When new releases come out, the Blu-ray version is always sold out, while the shitty DVD version is available by the truck load. Yes they sell way more DVDs than Blu-rays, but however many Blu-rays they get in, they sell out. Great sign for Blu-ray, bad sign for me. I'd rather have Blu-ray stay a niche with just enough revenue to keep the studios happy, but prices high enough that not every Joe Blow can have one.

And let me tell you, that $79 Blu-ray player you found at Newegg doesn't play Blu-rays by itself. You'll need a PC and the HD software which will run you a tad over $79. Any other genius comparisons? :roll:

 

[TruePaige]

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Give me a freakin' break, $300 is a decent price for a good quality Blu-ray player. If you can't afford it or it is more than you are willing to pay, that's YOUR problem. Sony doesn't need to appease the Wal-Mart shopper to have Blu-ray become successful. As a matter of fact, Blu-ray is doing damn fine as it is. And if you ask me, it is doing better than fine which is starting to piss me off. When new releases come out, the Blu-ray version is always sold out, while the shitty DVD version is available by the truck load. Yes they sell way more DVDs than Blu-rays, but however many Blu-rays they get in, they sell out. Great sign for Blu-ray, bad sign for me. I'd rather have Blu-ray stay a niche with just enough revenue to keep the studios happy, but prices high enough that not every Joe Blow can have one.

And let me tell you, that $79 Blu-ray player you found at Newegg doesn't play Blu-rays by itself. You'll need a PC and the HD software which will run you a tad over $79. Any other genius comparisons? :roll:

And like every other "better than the jones" wanna be's you get to the real reason.

Why do you want to deprive other people of something? Why does that make you happy?

It's ridiculous.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: Bignate603
DVDs are still good enough for most people and they see no reason to upgrade. Bluray isn't really a mainstream product yet.

This.