Do you think prices will begin to decline for Blu?

[InvisibleBiker]

Now with the war just about over, do you think that prices will begin to decline especially for Blu Ray hardware?

[PeechCobblerPie]

probably neither. now that theres no competition theres not really a need to. And production of the discs is still moderately expensive. remember, special edition DVD's MSRP between $29.99-$34.99 and sell for about 20-25. Blu-rays MSRP between $29.99-$39.99 and sell for 20-28. so for the HD quality you're getting a fantastic deal. And I guess I retract my first statement. There have been advancements in smaller blu-ray drives which will decrease the cost of production. At least the PS3's are supposed to go down about $100 by christmas

[tommyboy81]

Well since they won they can move there prices back up.

[Blu-ray Fanatic]

If they love their fans/consumers, they won't jack up the prices and/or produce more to make the prices cheaper

[Rhoq]

The prices never really budged to begin with. As more people upgrade their equipment and begin to buy more Blu-ray software, the software and hardware prices will drop. Since HDM is such a small portion of the home video pie, the higher prices are the only way that CE manufactures and movie studios can turn a profit on their investment. The more people that buy into Blu-ray, the lower the prices can get because they'll be able to move a lot more units of hardware and software.

[Whytewash]

i see prices staying the same on both hardware and software for AT LEAST 6 months... if not all the way until the 08 holiday season

[tommyboy81]

Originally Posted by Blu-ray Fanatic

If they love their fans/consumers, they won't jack up the prices and/or produce more to make the prices cheaper

I'm just messing around.

[Schrute Farms]

I bet the prices of Blu Players will decrease, as competition will increase among Blu ray manufacturers. The price of Blu-ray movies will probably decrease also in order to draw in more DVD users.

[gvortex7]

Due to supply and demand, the price will inevitably go down as far as it can before it reaches the equilibrium. It always happens that way.

[sardaukar1977]

I am expecting a slight increase at first in prices, then a steady decline, the way DVD did over the years. I doubt we will ever see Blu-Ray's for $5 or less, hell you can barely get a gallon of gas for less then 5 dollars, sheesh.

[kjack]

Absolutely. The number of BD player manufacturers coming online this year is staggering, so there will be lots of competition for the consumer's $$.

[Lou-Cipher]

I think they will stay about the same until Nov 25

[MatrixS2000]

Originally Posted by PeechCobblerPie

now that theres no competition theres not really a need to.

That is not correct - there is plenty of completion between the BD CEs, so prices will come down.

[Iceman713713]

the prices will stay the same for a while, but over time old blu's will go down

[PeechCobblerPie]

Originally Posted by MatrixS2000

That is not correct - there is plenty of completion between the BD CEs, so prices will come down.

you know what I meant. no more format competition besides DVD. dont be so nit-picky

[MatrixS2000]

Originally Posted by PeechCobblerPie

you know what I meant. no more format competition besides DVD. dont be so nit-picky

Nit-picky?

You said prices wouldn't come down because there was no competition. I said that it wasn't true because there is competition amongst the BD CEs.

If we are competing against DVD, that hardware AND software is much cheaper than BD, so the BD prices will come down because of competitive pressure.

[Lord_Phan]

Quarter 2 Funai will release a cheap Blu-ray player. The other CE's are starting to get involved, gradually prices will decline as it becomes cheaper to make them. If there's alot of demand they can mass produce and prices will plummet. Spread the word.

[Mogo]

I see prices continuing to fall. The players will be like printer and ink cartridges. The money to be made is in the media not the players.

The media produces will put pressure/help the player makers to get prices down as fast as they can so disks can be moved.

Until prices get below $200 player sales will be slow, because Joe public is not going to fork over more in this persieved bad economy.

I had planned to buy a player in March, but now I will wait until the fall.

[MatrixS2000]

Originally Posted by Mogo

Until prices get below $200 player sales will be slow, because Joe public is not going to fork over more in this persieved bad economy.

I had planned to buy a player in March, but now I will wait until the fall.

So for an $200 extra, your going to deprive yourself (and family maybe) of 6 months of HDM enjoyment? That is about $33/month, roughly the cost of a single movie...

[kingofgrills]

I think we will continue to see the price of Blu-ray players and films to steadily decrease over time. It won't be anything like the price slashing and undercutting we witnessed around the holidays, but like all technology I see a steady decline in associated costs.

There will be a lot more manufacturers entering the hardware market now that we have just one format. Many of them will Chinese or Korean manufacturers that routinely undercut traditional manufacturers. Also, to a certain extent BDs still face digital downloads and traditional DVDs as competition. That will keep the keep pressure on disc prices to reduce as well in order to increase Blu-ray adoption by the masses. Given the choice of DVD production or Blu-ray, movie studios would prefer Blu-ray production to help minimize piracy compared to DVDs.

We definitely need cheaper players in order to get more Blu-ray users. Oppo, where aaarrreee youuuuu????