BD-R discs cost more than DVD-R discs - Why?

[roxics]

Seems like it should be a fairly simple answer. But I'm not sure it it's just because BD-Rs cost more to make, due to more advanced technology and complications in manufacturing, or if it's more of a supply and demand issue. Economies of scale kind of thing, where more people are buying DVD-R discs and so the price is lower.

Another way to phrase this might be, if DVDs had never come out and Blu-ray was dominate, would BD-Rs be priced similar to what DVD-Rs are priced at right now?

[orangerunner]

I think it's several things you touched on;

-New technology requires higher prices to recoup the research and development costs of bringing that product to market.

-If the product never reaches a certain demand, the prices never really drops.

-a better version of an older product needs to be higher-priced to justify its pecking-order in the market.

-Blu-ray format is largely owned by SONY who probably take a royalty per-disc which adds to the cost of BD-R.

The physical materials in BD-R cost more.

[SpaceBlackKnight]

What the above poster said.

Also, most BD-Rs lack AACS encryption and can be copied over any which way should concerns of the disc going bad come up. I was told the supposed reason why most burned discs lack copy protection was most players being unable to properly play burned media with copy protection, yet DVD-Rs with encryption have no issues.

Also even odder is game consoles like the PS3/4/5 and Xbox One/Series X are funny with burned discs. Some will ether not play them or display them in half native resolution.

[PenguinInfinity]

Why wouldn't they? Can you name any format where a similar higher capacity format doesn't cost more to manufacture?

[orangerunner]

Originally Posted by PenguinInfinity

Why wouldn't they? Can you name any format where a similar higher capacity format doesn't cost more to manufacture?

The only example I can think of are USB drives in which a 4GB drive became the same cost as a 2GB thus causing the manufacturers to just discontinue the 2GB capacity. The cost differences became so insignificant that it wasn't worth it to market, package and transport the lesser drive capacity.

As of now, I think 32GB are just about on their way out in favor of 64GB for the same reason.

But for the sake of retail pricing pecking-order, the higher drive capacity always costs a bit more.