Ken Graffeo - When will the axe fall?

[JAGUAR1977]

So, Mr Ken Graffeo, cheif cheerleader for HD-DVD, a man who lords attach rates over disc sales, when is the axe going to fall on this guy?

For too long we've heard his pro HD-DVD spin, time and again he has been proven wrong, for how much longer will he hold out, his studios OWN titles, and the HD-DVD format in general has been disastrous sales wise!

There comes a time when even fanboys on the red side say enoughs, enough, we're no longer buying into the spin, hard sales figure, week after week, prove Graffeos predictions to be utterly wrong.

Anyone can make a mistake, that's forgivable, but when you make those same mistakes time and again, you, and your company, loses credibilty.

So, will Graffeo be the sacrificial lamb to ease Universals inevitable switch to Blu-ray?

Will he be hard faced enough to stand his ground, even when the switch happens?

Or, now this is my favoured outcome, is he in the process of masterminding Universals exit from HD-DVD, and to save face, will promote Universal as the studio who changed the course of this format war, which lead to Blu-ray not only winning, but eventually passing the almighty DVD?

A few Graffeo quotes:-

According to Graffeo, the PS3 is a gaming machine first, and studies have shown that "70% of gamers don’t even know that their console has a DVD playback option."

The high def format is about standalone players, not games machines. And the truth is that the jury is still out on whether gamers actually will buy movies in favour of games. We don't think so. And the number of movies sold for PS3 seems to confirm this.

Following heavy Black Friday discounting, HD DVD players have collectively sold more than 750,000 units, according to the North American HD DVD Promotional Group.

That figure encompasses lifetime sales of both Toshiba stand-alone models and Xbox 360 HD DVD players.

HD DVD continues to gain momentum (with the help of 360 gamers)and market share with customers,” said Ken Graffeo

Ultimately consumers will be the ones that determine what format provides the greatest value

Even if the other format were to eventually win, there's no risk. Because that HD-DVD player you buy will still play your regular DVDs and, by upconverting, will actually make the discs look better.

I can't imagine Blu-Ray getting even close to a $300 player this year. I expect their lead dog, PlayStation 3 [now $599], to drop $100, but that's it.

We didn't have many hot releases in the first quarter (Duh!), or many releases at all. They had some real biggies, like "Casino Royale." The fourth quarter will be telling. Our releases will be stronger, and we're looking for a big attach rate [that's disc sales per player] when people jump for an inexpensive HD-DVD machine to show off their new high-def TV set.