Warner press conference. HD DVD only 2x BD disc sales for 2006!

[dialog_gvf]

Live Coverage from the Warner press conference

Scroll down to see the slide:

First Year Sales
HD DVD 2x Blu-ray

With the PS/3 out for only six weeks!

Grubert has pulled the numbers out of the other slides (post on AVS). And it shows Universal was 38% of HD DVD sales (bye bye).

So, rocketing PS/3 attachments
Massive releases coming for BD
Slow down of Warner HD DVD for catch up
Universal a near no show for 2007

Geez, it isn't even gonna be close.

Gary

[dialog_gvf]

Other points from the press conference:

2007 projections:

HD DVD: 2.5 million (rediculously high - Toshiba's projection)
BD: 6.2 million (rediculously low, that's only 1 million more than Sony's end of March prediction)

(Spinning to keep friendly there, I suppose)

In your face Mission Impossible 3: Warner claims Superman Returns was the top title for both formats.

"The majority of those interviewed said they were 49% more likely to buy a HD format because of a dual format disc."

Until they actually buy it, and then clue in that they are paying for something extra they don't need, and getting zero extra studio neutrality.

Total HD:

What is the capacity for each side?
They have the full capacity of both HD DVD and Blu-ray and dual layer on both discs.
Cost of production is unknown, but it will not be materially more that a regular HD disc.

No retail price yet, but it is not cost prohibited.
If it motivates customers to buy it will be worth the cost.

Will HBO and Newline be making TotalHD discs?
Yes, no one else has announced support.
They haven't run any titles to market yet, but now they will.
HBO is very excited and think it is important to end the consumer confusion.
We will announce titles later, but right now the second half of 2007.

Licensing costs for other studios?
The fees overall don't change, there is no fee for Warner, only to Blu-ray and HD DVD.

They will move away from regular discs and only produce TotalHD discs.

How will the player know which format to play on a dual format player?
It is a dual sided disc, so you have to put it in the correct way.
They plan to have the same content on both sides.

When will see LOTR in this format, they are working on it now and are determining a release date.

Any replication machine will be able to make this disc.

Does this mean we are authoring twice and isn't the feature support different?
They have to do that now so this doesn't change that process.

Isn't this a temporary solution?
Other formats co-exist, Kevin continues on a long explanation about how long the format war is going to last.

Any machine? So, that DVD-9 replicator? Wow, put a blank HD DVD side, and Warner has just made a cheap BD replicator.

Gary

[Chris Beveridge]

I really have had to look at the BD launch like the DVD launch. For those that recall, there was like a seven month "test launch" in various cities with limited hardware and software. It wasn't until the fall that it went formal and expanded to all retailers for availability.

I'm just as disappointed as everyone else was with the way BD launched. I understand the need to blunt the early start HD DVD got. They botched it though and there is no argument there about it. But it and the other players launched pre-PS3 in my mind is just the soft/test launch to get things going. I dislike Sony's way of saying it in that the HD generation doesn't start until they say so, but the PS3 plainly is the formal launch of Blu-ray.

So yeah, HD DVD selling 2:1 for nine months compared to the relative single month that BD was out isn't hard to imagine. But remember back to the summer months and September when we had our first dual day and date title with the Lake House. According to Videoscan, numbers were low on both sides and the HD DVD side was outselling it by 3:1 while having two to three times as many players in peoples hands. The Samsung was all that was out, widely derided, and the Panasonic had been in a few places for a couple of weeks at best.

2006 was NOT an ideal year for BD. But much like early DVD history, it will be forgotten and most will remember BD launching with the PS3.

[Chris Beveridge]

Also, anyone got an email addy for WB HD customer service? I want to send them notice that as much HD that I buy, I refuse to buy these for the same reason I didn't buy the DVD/HD DVD combos; I don't want to spend money on product I don't use. I'm sure HD DVD fans feel the same way. Will their sales go down since HD DVD owners who are adamantly opposed to BD buy discs that have them essentially paying for the license fees of a BD release?

[JTK]

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...0408#post40408

You can see what I wrote about this in post 9.

Any and all combo discs are pestilence to be avoided at all costs and I wish the entire concept nothing but failure and a quick death like HD-DVD itself.

[phloyd]

One of the guys I talked to at the BDA booth (I think it was the retailer support guy) said that BD launched sooner than it wanted to. It really should have launched later but they had to do something in the time frame they did.

[Alex Pallas]

i'm just going to make a wild prediction that Warner, Universal and two or three minor studios use this format, ending any exclusive titles for HD-DVD and leading to their downfall.

[blitz6speed]

In the press conference, Warner stated that HD-DVD movie sales would hit 600 million, and Blu-Ray sales will hit 400 million.

Now, is it just me, or how does that make sense when they're selling a SINGLE disc for both formats??? Do they just add more to the hd-dvd side? Can anyone make sense of it?

[Deciazulado]

2007 projections:

HD DVD: 2.5 million (rediculously high - Toshiba's projection)

So they sell 175,000 players in 9 months (20,000 monthly/average),

and with Universal and Paramout new titles seemingly low and Warners "includes Blu-ray" DualDiscHD™, they expect to increase sales tenfold (200,000 a month/average) and sell 2.5 million now?

So in 2007 in one month they'll sell more Toshiba players than the whole 2006

Does this mean we are authoring twice and isn't the feature support different?

They have to do that now so this doesn't change that process.

Err you're kind of not doing thinks twice now, my man.

I'm afraid to find a 20GB or less Lord of the Ring video file inside an 80GB Total Harmonic Distortion DualDiscHD™ And having to pay twice the manufacturing costs for such a substandard file.