New survey say consumers snubbing Blu-Ray
A new Harris Interactive survey shows that while 7 out of 10 people know that the format war is over and that Sony's Blu-ray beat Toshiba's HD-DVD, only 9 percent of non-Blu-ray player owners are planning on buying one.
This InformationWeek story cracked me up:
Harris found that nearly nine in 10 people own a standard DVD player, but fewer than one in 10 reported owning devices available today for playing HD content, namely, HD DVD or Blu-ray disc players, Sony PlayStation 3, and the external HD DVD player for Microsoft's Xbox 360. These numbers are surprising, given that more than a third of consumers overall report owning an HDTV.
Let's break that down. Lots of people own an HDTV now. Why? Prices came down. When most sets were still selling for over $4,000 and $5,000, few people could afford it. But when prices started to around $2,000 and under, everyone jumped.
Even though we all recognize that we could watch a far more amazing image with a Blu-ray player, the price just doesn't justify it right now. Those players are still selling for $300 and up. How many people bought a DVD player for about $100 that works just fine right now? Or maybe you even have an up-converting DVD player that's even better.
I just don't see most people rushing out in this economy when food prices are high, energy prices are high and the cost of living keeps going up to buy a really pricey Blu-ray player and then spend $20 to $25 for each Blu-ray disc... especially when most of us remember DVD players costing just about as much at one time.
Until Sony sees fit to drop the prices on Blu-ray players (personally, I won't think about buying one until it goes below $200), I doubt consumers are going to mass-adopt this wonderful new technology anytime soon. Even if we really, really want it, it's just not worth the investment for most of us.
Categories: Cable/Satellite/TV/Comcast/FiOS, Digital television, Technology
Comments
do they come with a wind mill?
DD: Maybe that's why they're so expensive?
Posted by: robie | May 16, 2008 7:38 AM
I did buy a Sony Blu Ray player along w my new HDTV then quickly exchanged it for a PS3 which plays games, surfs the internet (on your big screen) plays Blu Rays and upconverts plus its wireless and finds your wireless network automatically
The situation in your article might have something to do with that upconverting players are dirt cheap and assuming they do as good a job as my PS3
they may not make it worth it to buy the $400 for the Blu Ray player
DD: Thanks Mike!
Posted by: Mike | May 16, 2008 11:20 AM