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

[DavidEC]

I am a wounded warrior in this format war...
...who chose 'Toshiba' for a number of reasons. with number one being.. past hardware longevity still have a 10+year old VHS VCR that tracks 20year old VHS tapes with out error.

[every Sony{TV, Stereo Receiver, Portable Audio}, Panasonic {TV,VCR} and Samsung{VCR, DVD Player} product purchased in the last twenty years failed on day warranty expired + 1 day]

I will support HD-DVD as long as I can..

Then I will go back to DVD..(as long as the format is around) as I will not purchase a game machine for my movie watching and all seem to agree that none of the current 'Blu-Ray' set top boxes will support future Java features that are standard in current HD-DVD drives

If my only future choice is then to download 'HD' movies using the 'DirecTV's VOD feature on their newer HD+DVR receivers.. I will never purchase another box such as AppleTV.

[side note: I hope that Universal keeps backing the HD-DVD format till all seasons of "HERO'S" gets released in this format]

PS: Comment on the article: Poor early-2008 sales alarming for remainder of HD DVD camp
By Ars Technica::: I find this to be a 'catch 22' issue, retailers are not carrying stock, so they can come along and say poor sales so why stock? Impulse buyers will purchase DVD copy of a movie and also when stores such as Circuit City offer the same movie on DVD for $4.99 and the 'HD (Red or Blue)' for $29... which would you really purchase? My market area has six Wal-Marts and three of them that I visited did not have any 'HD(Red or Blue)' movies in stock this past weekend.

[miller]

I answered it. Which part of my answer did you not agree with? Or are you just here to complain about fruit?

You didn't answer my question. You answered a question I did not ask. I'm not saying that game publishers (or studios) wouln't prefer a single format ... I'm sure they would. My point is that the gaming industry can support 2 formats, why not home video? That is the question I want answered. Why is the media (this site included) so bent on driving a wedge between these formats and placing emphasis on a "winner", when it appears both can co-exist peacefully?

But it's apples and oranges because each platform has something unique whether it's a particular game (Gran Turismo on PS, Mario on Nintendo, etc.) or controller or other feature.

The home video industry has this too: Exclusive titles, unique content on one format vs. the other, etc. So looks like "apples and apples" to me.

- Miller

[stevekaden]

The answer to the question (IMHO) is rather simplistic. I can't say why, but for some reason the HD dvd market - for that huge mass of 'ordinary' people, think this is a one way or the other situation. And they are afraid of what seems to be happening - losing their investment.

I think the game industry started so slowly, with many game types over the years. So it was no big shock for example when Xbox came out. I mean, Ninetendo and Sony were probably having fits, but the bulk of that market did not stop buying in fear.

Now that all seems silly to me in the HD market...after all, there is shelf space for those silly PSP movies (talk about your irrational format!), regular DVD's and all their reissues and at least one HD rack. Bottom line is if the customers are buying, then the retailers - while maybe not wanting too - will make rack space. It's their job, their business. And they usually have lots of rack space for marginal items. They probably like to have less TVs, less cameras, less of everything - but that is not how it generally works until the vendors die off.

While the retailers had their way of placing their votes, this HD situation seemed to be a studio/payola decision. And that warped decision seems to have been made (the payola taken) simply because the 'ordinary' customer was scared.

Simple. And in the end, the marketing staffs/corporate boards do not seem to be listeing to us!

[film11]

Has everyone forgotten laserdisc? It offered superior audio, video, and all the extras of today's DVDs. Yes, it was a niche market, only reaching about 3 million users. But that was primarily due to lack of advertisng and high prices (both for players and discs.) And it co-existed with VHS for 20 years! Could have even went on a bit longer, but Warner's was one of the studios to prematurely eliminate the format from its movie releases.

[Dale]

Everyone is making good points but people who are paid a great deal to make business decisions in this field continue to advise us that one format is better for all than is two or more. I also know from first hand experience that the movie studios will sell to you a product of theirs on whatever format or media you want as long as you are willing to pay the price they ask for it and that there is DRM in play. I knew people in Hollywooed years ago who had professional Panasonic D5 machines and were buying movies in that HDTV format for their home theaters.

[akirby]

My point is that the gaming industry can support 2 formats, why not home video? That is the question I want answered. Why is the media (this site included) so bent on driving a wedge between these formats and placing emphasis on a "winner", when it appears both can co-exist peacefully?

Because the game consoles are driven by specific game titles. If you want Mario you buy a Nintendo and then you play that Mario game for months, even years. Same for Gran Turismo on PS2 (and soon PS3). I know Xbox has proprietary games, too. It's easy to justify a second console if you want the games that go with it because you'll get months or years out of them.

Contrast that with the average consumer who wants to watch a movie in HD - probably once, maybe twice and it should be obvious why they're reluctant to deal with 2 formats and 2 players. Not to mention the cost (especially if you discount the Toshiba lost leaders).

I was in Fry's recently doing some Christmas shopping. Their aisles are approximately 40 feet long. Video games (for all formats) took up 1.5 aisles. DVDs (in just one format) took up at least 6 if not 8 aisles. Double that and you can see why retailers are nervous.

I don't understand why this is such an emotional issue. If the end result is quality HD movies in one format with less total cost and no confusion - how can that be bad?

[miller]

Everyone is making good points but people who are paid a great deal to make business decisions in this field continue to advise us that one format is better for all than is two or more.

Buy aren't we allowed to ask (and know) why?

I make a great deal of money as a consultant too, but I always explain to my customers why I'm doing things. I don't just say "I make a lot of money, so just accept it".

It's fine to say that, as long as it can be sufficiently explained. How do we know that the move to a single format was done to further the category vs. a huge pay-off to the studios?

Need more information.

- Miller

[stevekaden]

Ask and know why...well obviously we can all ask. But know why - they are not forthcoming at all. Statements, yes. Accurate, maybe not so much. It's their game - they're paid the (maybe) big bucks and sit in the meetings reading the charts we never see.

[akirby]

What advantage does the consumer get in having 2 different formats?

[Dale]

Eliminate consumer confusion, optimize economies of scale, add disk capacity (Blu ray side), re-establish or establish retailer satisfaction, improve industry gross in all DVD-related sales


Those are the only reasons I know and I have no more to contribute to the subject. If you doubt the voracity of those reasons you should contact the studios and ask them. They are public companies and must report their financials. A few hundred million dollar windfall will show up on the record. All of the studios have a PR department that is charged with making the actions of the company known and clearly understood. Write them or call them and tell them you are about to do a very penitrating article on their respective involvements with the high definition DVD format decision and you need a fully verifiable statement from the company president that they did or did not receive a financial pay off for selecting Blu ray or HD DVD? Trust me, they will give you the statement you are looking for and embellish it with the reasons leading up to the choice. _Dale