Toshiba Dropping HD DVD Prices

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Toshiba issued a press release announcing lower prices on all its HD DVD players. With Blu-ray gathering steam, it looks like the HD DVD camp is fighting back on the price front.

Taking the holiday season sales based on promotional prices into full consideration, these new manufacturer's suggested retail prices (MSRP) are designed to meet the potential demand for HD DVD players in the U.S. market. Effective on January 13, 2008 the MSRP of the entry-model HD-A3 will be $149.99, the HD-A30, with 1080p output, $199.99, and the high-end HD-A35, $299.99.
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As we said last week, the HD DVD camp is going to fight back on the pricing side of things to hit the Blu-ray camp where it doesn’t want to go (price war). Rumor has it, movie prices are next with steeper hardware cuts coming fairly soon.

I know a bunch of the forum goers said this wouldn’t happen last week but it has. Now the only question is will lower and lower prices win studio support back or is this just a futile attempt by the HD DVD crew?
 
Probably slashing prices to ditch warehouse stock to avoid a catastrophic financial loss.
 
Its futile. Its too late. Studios have made their decision. They arent just going to flip flop back to HDDVD due to some price drops.

Even tho a TON of HDDVD players sold over the holidays with the cheap prices, sales of movies did not increase for HDDVD. And Blu-Rays sales ratio vs HDDVD increased substantially over the last week. Just waiting for the official Nielsen weekly sales release.
 
Ockie said:
Probably slashing prices to ditch warehouse stock to avoid a catastrophic financial loss.
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Unless BR players come WAY down in price, I won't be buying their overpriced crap either. Cuts both ways.
 
ICOM said:
Unless BR players come WAY down in price, I won't be buying their overpriced crap either. Cuts both ways.
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Word. Buyers are left between a hard place and a rock.
 
This is great news. HD-DVD is still in the game despite what people think. Blu-Ray is too expensive for hardware and the movies that HD-DVD hardware and media will beat them there. When they have a more installed userbase what will happen is the studios will be clamoring for HD-DVD exclusivity.
 
The news about the new Blu-ray 2.0 spec is gonna hurt early adopters real bad though. Pretty much all the new 2.0 discs won't be backwards compatible with the older players. Which means that all the extra space they touted on those Blu-ray discs for special features, older players won't be able to use. I smell some class action at some point with this one...
 
L33t Masta said:
This is great news. HD-DVD is still in the game despite what people think. Blu-Ray is too expensive for hardware and the movies that HD-DVD hardware and media will beat them there. When they have a more installed userbase what will happen is the studios will be clamoring for HD-DVD exclusivity.
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Yeah, hopefully they will sell the 7million units they need with this price drop to have a larger userbase.

Blu-Ray is cheaper on average for media.
 
4saken said:
Even tho a TON of HDDVD players sold over the holidays with the cheap prices, sales of movies did not increase for HDDVD. And Blu-Rays sales ratio vs HDDVD increased substantially over the last week. Just waiting for the official Nielsen weekly sales release.
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Where'd you get that? Just curious because the numbers aren't out yet. Reports right now are that HDDVD hardware was up but both HD DVD and Blu-ray movies sales last month were flat with a spike on the Blu-ray side. You got some inside info you wanna share?

:)
 
I got an email this morning from Amazon. They have HD-DVD & Blu-Ray movies for $14 each, everything is at least 30% off.

One of the Toshiba players gives 7 movies, the PS3 gives 6, and a bunch of other Blu-ray players give 5.
 
-=PESTILENCE=- said:
The news about the new Blu-ray 2.0 spec is gonna hurt early adopters real bad though. Pretty much all the new 2.0 discs won't be backwards compatible with the older players. Which means that all the extra space they touted on those Blu-ray discs for special features, older players won't be able to use. I smell some class action at some point with this one...
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Features won't work, it hasn't been proven the movies themselves won't.
 
That's what I meant. And now I can't edit my post...wonder why? Anywho, I know the movies will play.

May I add that I bought the Toshiba HD-A30 and I'm loving it. Even if the format dies [which i hope not] I'll still have a great up converting dvd player. IF I ever need to, I'll buy a blu-ray, but I'm hoping not, and not for a long time, lol.
 
Futile. The HD-DVD players were *already* less expensive. Price wasn't winning the war before, and it won't now. The large install base of the Blu-ray/PS3 camp (compared to the HD-DVD install base) is driving Blu-Ray sales, and the studios go where the sales are.

I think that all other factors are small compared to this - features, cost to produce, etc. Blu-Ray has the jump on sales and install base, and that brings the studios, and the studios bring the movies and the movies bring the people.
 
Steve said:
Where'd you get that? Just curious because the numbers aren't out yet. Reports right now are that HDDVD hardware was up but both HD DVD and Blu-ray movies sales last month were flat with a spike on the Blu-ray side. You got some inside info you wanna share?

:)
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Ignore 4saken. He's been quoting sales figures since before the first Bluray players even left the factory. :D
 
L33t Masta said:
This is great news. HD-DVD is still in the game despite what people think. Blu-Ray is too expensive for hardware and the movies that HD-DVD hardware and media will beat them there. When they have a more installed userbase what will happen is the studios will be clamoring for HD-DVD exclusivity.
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Blu-Ray is obviously not too expensive. There's over 4 times as many blu-ray players on the market as there are HD-DVD players. Price isn't stopping people from buying these things.

As for movie costs... looking at amazon, both formats fall generally between $20-$28. Don't believe the marketing hype that blu-ray discs are more expensive. Believe your eyes when you look in the store.

This price break will NOT sell 3 million HD-DVD players. And that's what it would need to do to catch up with the blu-ray install base.

HD-DVD just can't compete with the fact that the PS3 is on blu-ray's side. If Microsoft had put the HD-DVD in the 360, it would be a whole different story. But they didn't, and that was the end of that.
 
Steve,

Have any of these companies stated why they are changing to Blue Ray? I admit I haven't been following it but I would thing that lower prices on units is what caused them to leave. The fact that a drive for the PC or that can be used on the PC is a lot cheaper than a BR player would lead to fears of wider possible Piracy, combine that with the fact that its smaller in file size could help fuel fears.


I don't doubt that BR has some good advantages over HDDVD but as a consumer I can't justify the price of BR players. Actually as a comsumer I'm annoyed of this HD format war and the neutering of DVDs in the first place.
 
L33t Masta said:
This is great news. HD-DVD is still in the game despite what people think. Blu-Ray is too expensive for hardware and the movies that HD-DVD hardware and media will beat them there. When they have a more installed userbase what will happen is the studios will be clamoring for HD-DVD exclusivity.
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lol. clamoring for hd dvd exclusivity. hahahahahaha. HAVE YOU PAID ANY ATTENTION SO FAR?
 
Steve said:
Where'd you get that? Just curious because the numbers aren't out yet. Reports right now are that HDDVD hardware was up but both HD DVD and Blu-ray movies sales last month were flat with a spike on the Blu-ray side. You got some inside info you wanna share?

:)
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neilson videoscan. hd dvd did not win one week last year. not one.
toshibas $99 sale only generated 90,000 player sales. Really they were just dumping inventory. Many of the players had manufacturing dates of 11 and 12 months earlier, meaning they were sitting in a warehouse, not moving.
 
-=PESTILENCE=- said:
The news about the new Blu-ray 2.0 spec is gonna hurt early adopters real bad though. Pretty much all the new 2.0 discs won't be backwards compatible with the older players. Which means that all the extra space they touted on those Blu-ray discs for special features, older players won't be able to use. I smell some class action at some point with this one...
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You'll be able to watch the movie just fine. You just wont be able to play x whatever stupid 2.0 java game is included on the disc. Quite honestly: who gives a crap?
 
Ethug said:
You'll be able to watch the movie just fine. You just wont be able to play x whatever stupid 2.0 java game is included on the disc. Quite honestly: who gives a crap?
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Also, it doesn't affect PC drives, PS3's, or set-top boxes which can be updated.
 
Ethug said:
neilson videoscan. hd dvd did not win one week last year. not one.
toshibas $99 sale only generated 90,000 player sales. Really they were just dumping inventory. Many of the players had manufacturing dates of 11 and 12 months earlier, meaning they were sitting in a warehouse, not moving.
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Pics or shens.
 
Here is my favorite picture:

neilsonhdmarketsharejunwh9.jpg


That place where the lines cross, thats when the PS3 launched. The numbers have never looked back. HD DVD people need to realize they won't sell enough drives to keep up with even 5% of PS3 people buying movies, especially with hd dvd becoming more and more meaningless in the market every day. Lets face it, come June, when Warner stops releasing any hd dvd movies, the ratio of content soars to 70/30 in favor of blu. You might not like that, but it's fact now folks.

Your life isn't measured in how this turned out. You can feel free to move along and not feel bad, I promise. The longer you hang on, the dumber you look.
 
i don't know, price may not be a big deal for some, but its a dealbreaker for me.


reason being, i hate 90% of the corporate run, dumbed down, ooh shiny movies that have been coming out (the last large budget movies i enjoyed from a major studio were the Lord of the Rings trilogy). I pretty much watch indie studios, foreign films, and a ton of anime. So that being said, what benefit would BR give me over an upscaling player at that pricepoint.

i don't see indie studios affording blue ray for a long time, and i haven't seen anything about the bulk of anime studios adopting either of the formats.

really at this point i can't justify the price right now since i know that money isn't going to studios making movies that aren't plotless drivel and making the explosions more colourful.

once blue ray costs around where hd does now or better yet costs where dvd was when i bought my player back in like 2001 then i may be interested, until then my hdtv is going to be primarily used for games
 
Ethug said:
Here is my favorite picture:



That place where the lines cross, thats when the PS3 launched. The numbers have never looked back. HD DVD people need to realize they won't sell enough drives to keep up with even 5% of PS3 people buying movies, especially with hd dvd becoming more and more meaningless in the market every day. Lets face it, come June, when Warner stops releasing any hd dvd movies, the ratio of content soars to 70/30 in favor of blu. You might not like that, but it's fact now folks.

Your life isn't measured in how this turned out. You can feel free to move along and not feel bad, I promise. The longer you hang on, the dumber you look.
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LOL I still love this.

Sony is hoping the PlayStation 3 will get more customers on its side in the HD DVD/Blu-ray format war, but the bad news for them is that while the PS3 has helped to increase the installed base of Blu-ray players, only 40 percent of PS3 owners surveyed knew that the system even had Blu-ray built-in.
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http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...bout-next-gen-console-media-capabilities.html
 
Who are we kidding, these are just temporary solutions anyway. We all know that in the future we will just be getting 1080P from xbox live or netflix via some sort of streaming ap. It just makes more sense, I guess their will be a niche group that will want the actual disk and jacket, but come on the future will be media less, where all you need is a codec upgrade.
 
Good news for those that won't allow "game machines" in their living room. Selling the PS3 and 360 as something more is going to take a LOT of marketing.

Another good bump is Tosh selling it as an upconverter. If they can drop the price to $99, it's an easy sell. $79 for an upconverting SD player, or an extra $20 for a quality upconverter AND HD-DVD support.
 
And I've made my decision. I do not want BluRay. I'll stick with standard DVD if I have to.

Enough of that happens, and the media companies will eventually have to listen and understand that Sony can't buy their way into a winning platform.



4saken said:
Its futile. Its too late. Studios have made their decision. They arent just going to flip flop back to HDDVD due to some price drops.

Even tho a TON of HDDVD players sold over the holidays with the cheap prices, sales of movies did not increase for HDDVD. And Blu-Rays sales ratio vs HDDVD increased substantially over the last week. Just waiting for the official Nielsen weekly sales release.
Click to expand...
 
From Electronic House, and linked on the homepage of AVS.

"Toshiba Launches HD DVD Fire Sale"

http://www.electronichouse.com/article/toshiba_launches_hd_dvd_fire_sale/C157

The question is, why are there no new HD DVD players in the pipeline?

No new models announced?

I would really like to see something that shows that this is anything other than a way to get rid of the current stock of players on retail shelves and in warehouses.
 
Manaknight said:
i don't see indie studios affording blue ray for a long time, and i haven't seen anything about the bulk of anime studios adopting either of the formats.
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Wikipedia said:
A study performed by Home Media Magazine (August 5, 2007) concluded that HD DVD discs and Blu-ray discs are essentially equal in production cost. Quotes from several disc manufacturers for 25,000 units of HD DVDs and Blu-rays revealed a price differential of only 5-10 cents. (Lowest price: 90 cents versus 100 cents. Highest price: $1.45 versus $1.50.) Another study performed by Wesley Tech (February 9, 2007) arrived at a similar conclusion. Quotes for 10,000 discs show that a 15 gigabyte HD DVD costs $11,500 total, and 25 gigabyte Blu-ray or a 30 gigabyte HD DVD costs $13,000 total. For larger quantities of 100,000 units, the 25 gigabyte Blu-ray was less expensive than the 30 gigabyte HD DVD ($1.49 versus $1.55).
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from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_high_definition_optical_disc_formats#Disc_construction

The idea that Blu-Ray is more expensive to produce than HD-DVD is a myth.
 
It's a blatant inventory ditch effort IMHO. To stem losses they'll go below manufacturing costs.

Toshiba: Show me all the new model players coming out in the next 4-6 weeks and let's see what actually hits the store shelves or at least give us some data on new unit production orders to verify it's not a ditch.
 
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