HD DVD Rallies Consumer Audience in 2007 Driving Nearly One Million Dedicated Player Sales in North America

[Shane]

At the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the companies of the HD DVD Promotional Group recapped a breakthrough year for the high definition format, reaching nearly one million dedicated HD DVD players sold in North America and delivering on the promise of affordability, quality and a consistent experience on every machine. With a leading install base of dedicated players, there are now more than 400 titles available in the US and more than 1,000 titles available worldwide. During the key five week holiday selling period, HD DVD software sales grew at nearly twice the rate of Blu-ray, which was consistent with increased player growth.

As the industry looks for a format that can break into the mainstream consumer market, HD DVD continues...

[url=http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/news/2008/01/hd_dvd_rallies_consumer_audience_in_2007_driving_nearly_one_million_dedicated_player_sales_in_north_america.php]Read the Full Article[/url]

[pmalter0]

Enough with the rhetoric already! It is unlawful for the studios to refuse to license or sell to any disc producer, especially for Warner's admitted purpose of putting HD-DVD out of business. Toshiba: if you don't understand the phrase "Sue the bastards," contact me at [email protected], and I'll be happy to explain it to you.

[hharris4earthlink]

Please understand that I'm no lawyer. I'm just asking for a little clarification on your comment.

I would assume that Warner has the right to distribute its own product in any way it chooses. If I understand you correctly, you're saying that Warner does not have the right to refuse a third party buying the product and then releasing it in a different format. Do I have that right so far? I would also assume that Warner would not only have to be paid for the intellectual rights to begin with, they'd also be entitled to a percentage of the sales. If this is true, are you saying that Warner has refused to license their product to a third party that intends to sell their product in the HD DVD format?

Henry

[hharris4earthlink]

You forgot to mention that the HD Consumer Group canceled its news conference there, but perhaps that's not as important as some would make it out to be. Toshiba certainly denies this is the death knell for HD DVD. It would seem to me that the most positive number is the number of titles sold. In February it was 98.71 to every 100 Blu-ray titles sold, much too close to call a winner. And of course the 5 to 1 ratio of Blu-ray to HD DVD players sold is distorted by the popularity of the PS3. And even my own opinion is suspect. I bought a Betamax instead of a VHS machine. Is this payback for seeing an inferior standard adopted in the past? Am I tired of hype succeeding over technical standards?

Absolutely.

Henry

[pmalter0]

Henry,

The antitrust laws prevent Warner, or any other producer, from refusing to deal for anti-competitive purposes (which, in effect, Warner has admitted). You are correct that Warner would have to be paid by an HD-DVD producer the functionally same amount it is paid by a BR producer. My invitation was purely rhetorical, I presume that Toshiba has already been extensively briefed on this by its lawyers. There are many reasons why it would hesitate to do battle with the movie studios. I for one would like to encourage them as much as possible; breaking the studios current monopoly powers would ultimately reduce disc prices for everyone.

Phil

[hharris4earthlink]

On the face of it, reducing the price of a disc is a worthy goal, especially if it resulted in more sales and income for the artists that created the material on the disc. But I wonder if this goal is offset by the cost to the consumer of having to purchase different machines for different products? Perhaps this wouldn't be a problem if it was like buying music on records, cassettes, CDs or DVDs. The difference between this example and video would seem to be only cost. But until the cost comes down, it would seem there is an economic advantage to the consumer in having one machine that can handle videos, games and any other high volume content.

I have no doubt that the march of technology will eventually make this question moot, but until then it would seem to me there is a definite advantage to the consumer in having one standard and one machine for all applications.

Henry

[DavidEC]

I posted the following in another forum and got 'laughed off the board' but it seems that many here had the same basic idea..
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As we know the home video rights for movies are many times sold by the studios to a third party for home video release.

What would prevent such a third party such as "Criterion Collection" or even a new company from purchasing movie rights for release on HD-DVD in the future?

Toshiba use to have a movie releasing division, what would prevent them from recreating this division and purchasing the rights to press HD-DVD's from Warner Bro's or other studios, for retail through like Amazon?

This would leave the studio as backing their "HD" and allow HD-DVD owners to have copies of movies.

--David

[hharris4earthlink]

The history of competing formats, for example Betamax versus VHS tape, would suggest that content providers don't like multiple formats and tend to only support what they view as the format most acceptable to the public. The recent announcement by Warner to only support Blu-ray seems to confirm that a majority of content providers have made up their mind in this case. Although I wouldn't say what you suggest is impossible, I think it would be extremely unlikely at this point in time. In the case of Betamax versus VHS, for example, the decision was based on perceived public acceptance and not the quality of the recording. Personally, I think the content providers are making the right decision this time because Blu-ray better supports a larger range of applications and is therefore more future proof, a factor I suspect was part of the reasoning that led to their decision.

[pmalter0]

David,
You are right on the money; but without a lawsuit first, the studios won't permit it.
Henry--there are so many reasons why the beta/vhs analogy is inapplicable. The only thing now preventing HD-DVD from continuing to undercut and outsell BR is a lawsuit.

[hharris4earthlink]

If you mean this is really all about money, you're right. The studios don't want to support two formats, especially in a possible impending recession. They view the continuing existence of two formats as confusing to the public and having a negative impact on total sales of high definition players. For whatever reason there seems to be the attitude of let's cut to the chase and decide for the public. Toshiba is not happy about this decision because in hardware sales they're doing pretty good right now. Consumers who have already bought HD DVD players are not happy. Microsoft is not happy because of the X-box. The reality here is that there's no solution that can satisfy everyone and, like it or not, ultimately content is king.

Henry