A player shortage?

[larryj763]

I don't know if this is good or bad news, but I was talking to my Magnolia rep about the Panny BD50 and mentioned it was now moved back to the end of July. He told me that they have NO players to sell; they can't get them. Sony had a backlog of at least 3 weeks!

Either people are snapping up players faster than thought or the manufacturers are being "lazy" about production. The rep claimed he had lots of folks wanting players and they just couldn't keep them in inventory.

[DetroitSportsFan]

The manufacturers might be holding back and letting their older players sell out everywhere before releasing their new players this summer/fall.

[WickyWoo]

The war ended a bit earlier than was predicted, and now capacity is just starting to meet up with demand

They should be ready for Christmas though

[Pellaeon]

I had a home theatre shop give me a call very excited that they got the Panny 30 in. I am on the list for the Panny 50. I was shocked to hear how excited he was to get it, he mentioned they couldnt keep Blu Ray players in stock.

[meckel]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

The war ended a bit earlier than was predicted, and now capacity is just starting to meet up with demand

They should be ready for Christmas though

what Wicky said. I was told the reason the Panasonic BD50 was delayed was because they were trying to catch up with demand for the BD30. Sony may be slowing down on the BD300 with the BD350 due out in early August.

[krisjan]

Originally Posted by meckel

...I was told the reason the Panasonic BD50 was delayed was because they were trying to catch up with demand for the BD30.

Not sure who told you that but I think it's bunk. The BD30 and BD50 are being made in two different factories (the 30 in Japan and the 50 in China) so there is no reason to hold the 50 up other than trying to iron out some performance or quality assurance aspects prior to release. Its also been clear that the 50 is not replacing the 30 and that both models will co-exist for some time in the Panny line-up.

[aviman33]

Personally, I believe the shortage is real and deliberate. The 1st generation players are slow, problem prone and a customer service disaster. Can you imagine how many support calls they get each day.. "This disc won't play!" All of us here are hardcore users and constantly downloading the latest firmware. What does the average user do? They are not interested in wasting their time in BD user forums.. Sony is really only pandering the PS3, since they are Profile 2 upgradable and most of them are hooked up to the internet. I believe that the BD companies were rushed to put out any crap they could when they were competing against HD DVD. Now that HD DVD is gone, they are ratcheting down production on profile 1 & 1.1 players and gearing up for the new generation profile 2 players.

John

[Jim L]

Originally Posted by aviman33

. . . The 1st generation players are slow, problem prone and a customer service disaster.

John

I agree with you, except for the Panasonic BD-30. It looks and behaves like a regular DVD player and plays CDs. It is almost as fast as the PS3 on every advanced BD-Java title and even does the PIP and menus very smoothly.

I think I read in that recent HMM article that the Blu-ray manufacturers said they were caught "flat-footed" when Toshiba surrendered. They are saying that the demand has definitely outstripped supply.

Regarding the BD-30 vs BD-50 remark - the BD-50 may be built in China, but I'll bet Panasonic's UniPhier chip is not, and that is what is in short supply.

[meckel]

Originally Posted by krisjan

Not sure who told you that but I think it's bunk. The BD30 and BD50 are being made in two different factories (the 30 in Japan and the 50 in China) so there is no reason to hold the 50 up other than trying to iron out some performance or quality assurance aspects prior to release. Its also been clear that the 50 is not replacing the 30 and that both models will co-exist for some time in the Panny line-up.

Panasonic Sale rep. While the 30 and 50 are made in different factories, I think the chips are made in the same place. I could be wrong, but that is was I was told

[aviman33]

Originally Posted by Jim L

I agree with you, except for the Panasonic BD-30. It looks and behaves like a regular DVD player and plays CDs. It is almost as fast as the PS3 on every advanced BD-Java title and even does the PIP and menus very smoothly.

I think I read in that recent HMM article that the Blu-ray manufacturers said they were caught "flat-footed" when Toshiba surrendered. They are saying that the demand has definitely outstripped supply.

Regarding the BD-30 vs BD-50 remark - the BD-50 may be built in China, but I'll bet Panasonic's UniPhier chip is not, and that is what is in short supply.

I'm under the impression that the BD-30 does not have an ethernet port. If this is true, then I content it will still be a PIA for Panasonic unless firmware is finalized. It's got to be a nightmare dealing with customer complaints regarding disc compatibility.