What is Samsung Thinking?

[Longshot]

While taking time to reflect the news of Samsungs proposed hybrid player later this year. I started thinking. Why make this announcement now? A full 7-8 months before an actual working model will be available to the general public. Sales of Bd discs and players have really surged since the middle of the 4th quarter last year. BD has a sizeable lead in disc sales and will only grow stronger throughout the year as more and more exclusive blockbuster content is released. Samsung is just releasing their 2nd generation BD player and by most accounts the reviews are very positive so far. Samsung has stated publicly they hope to be BD live capable later this year. The announcement of another combo/hybrid (LG was 1st to the market witheir POS player) only emboldens Universal to stay HD DVD exclusive and Warner Bros. more reason to believe that THD discs are the solution to packaged hi def content.

So again why make this announcement [B]now[/B.]? CEDIA would seem like a more likely venue where a fully functional hybrid could be displayed. With actual dates and pricing revealed. I'm a conspiracy theory nut (I still don't believe Oswald acted alone) so I'll give my .02 for whatever it's worth.

*Samsung is really peaved at Sony for the way they placed all the blame of the poor launch on the BDP-1000 which resulted in very poor sales and a tarnished image.
*Samsung announces that they will build a standalone HD DVD player if "the market conditions warrant". This to me is the real "shocker" in the Sammy press release not the combo player.
*Samsung believes their will be no clear cut winner in this "war" and is trying to maximize profits in every way possible.
*By announcing so far in advance is it possible Samsung is looking for some type of concession from Sony/BDA and this hybrid player may never see the light of day if such concession is agreed to?

I don't think there's any question this was a "shot across the bow" of Sony and the BDA. If Samsung is close to getting a sub $500 BD player to market as rumored should Sony allow the Samsung to come to market first as a gesture of good faith? Iwould imagine a $500 or less BD player would sell very well. Would this be enough for Samsung to scuttle the combo player?

The next 6-8 months will be very fascinating indeed. One of the main reasons I love this forum other than the obvious is that there is civil (for the most part) and well thought discussion here unlike that other forum. I look forward to everyone's thoughts/opinions.

[HDTV1080P]

The corporate decisions at Samsung are hard to understand and interpret. For one thing they rushed the BDP-1000 to market and this BLU-RAY player received so many bad reviews until Samsung fixed most the picture quality issues with a firmware update. Why did Samsung rush a player to market that was not ready? In some companies people would get fired for releasing firmware that received so many bad reviews. At least with a firmware update this was corrected several months later. It just was a shame that for around 6 months all the magazines had nothing but the Samsung to review.
The other thing I do not understand is why Samsung would announce a combo player that is going to sale for under $1000 in the fall when they just a few weeks ago released the BDP-1200 for $799. Many people that wanted to purchase the BDP-1200 for $799 might now wait for the BD-UP5000 that might sale for only $999. If one is going to spend $799 on a player then one might as will spend another $200 so that they can play Universal Studio HD-DVD discs.
Samsung is really planning on coming out with this combo player. They even have a model number for it now. Samsung should have waited until summer to announce this new player. It’s kind of like they wanted to kill the sales of the BDP-1200 that just came out.
I would be very surprised if Samsung was to make a HD-DVD player only. There is no market for such a product. As long as Universal Studios stays HD-DVD exclusive there is a market for combo players.
Maybe one day Mircosoft or Toshiba will make a business deal with Samsung and HD-DVD players will come on the market. Toshiba has only sold 100,000 HD-DVD players which is a joke.

[joeorc]

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

The corporate decisions at Samsung are hard to understand and interpret. For one thing they rushed the BDP-1000 to market and this BLU-RAY player received so many bad reviews until Samsung fixed most the picture quality issues with a firmware update. Why did Samsung rush a player to market that was not ready? In some companies people would get fired for releasing firmware that received so many bad reviews. At least with a firmware update this was corrected several months later. It just was a shame that for around 6 months all the magazines had nothing but the Samsung to review.
The other thing I do not understand is why Samsung would announce a combo player that is going to sale for under $1000 in the fall when they just a few weeks ago released the BDP-1200 for $799. Many people that wanted to purchase the BDP-1200 for $799 might now wait for the BD-UP5000 that might sale for only $999. If one is going to spend $799 on a player then one might as will spend another $200 so that they can play Universal Studio HD-DVD discs.
Samsung is really planning on coming out with this combo player. They even have a model number for it now. Samsung should have waited until summer to announce this new player. It’s kind of like they wanted to kill the sales of the BDP-1200 that just came out.
I would be very surprised if Samsung was to make a HD-DVD player only. There is no market for such a product. As long as Universal Studios stays HD-DVD exclusive there is a market for combo players.
Maybe one day Mircosoft or Toshiba will make a business deal with Samsung and HD-DVD players will come on the market. Toshiba has only sold 100,000 HD-DVD players which is a joke.

here this may cheer you up an make you laugh:

Toshiba and Samsung Electronics Announce Details of Integration of Optical Disk Businesses

13 January, 2004

Toshiba Corporation
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Tokyo -- Toshiba Corporation and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today revealed the details of their new joint venture for optical-disk drives (ODD), as initially announced in a memorandum of terms announced on September 22, 2003.

The new joint venture, Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology Corporation, will start operation on April 1, 2004. The company will integrate product and business planning, product development, procurement and sales and marketing of ODDs, including CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives. Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology Corporation will be headquartered in Japan with a wholly owned subsidiary in Korea.

The new joint venture will construct a competitive business structure that promotes optimized use of management resources and leadership in the global market

http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2004_01/pr1301.htm

HEY WHAT DO YOU KNOW....
Toshiba....

[HDTV1080P]

Who knows one day Toshiba and Samsung could make a business decision and merger the companies together.

[The Don]

there's a reason the combo is 200 more...

for 1...combo players are more likely to be faulty than stand-alone...so when one part goes, the whole thing does..

and 2...the HD-DVD side brings down the value.....I think 200 bucks more is a steep price to buy something with a permanent piece of junk attached to it...

...just so I can watch Batman Begins...

[HDTV1080P]

Here is a little updated news on Samsung’ s current USA policy. Samsung will only be making BLU-RAY and combo players for the US market. Samsung has no plans to make HD-DVD players for the US market. Now for countries like Europe and other countries possible Samsung most likely will have HD-DVD only players coming on the market.
Check out the article written on April 16th in Twice
Quote
“That has led some to believe that Samsung, a member of the Blu-ray camp, will be introducing an HD DVD deck some time in the future. Sullivan noted, “While we have the capability to do that, we do not have plans [for an HD DVD deck] in the U.S. market.””

http://www.twice.com/article/CA6433999.html

[blublublu]

Originally Posted by The Don

there's a reason the combo is 200 more...

for 1...combo players are more likely to be faulty than stand-alone...so when one part goes, the whole thing does..

and 2...the HD-DVD side brings down the value.....I think 200 bucks more is a steep price to buy something with a permanent piece of junk attached to it...

...just so I can watch Batman Begins...

It seems strange that Samsung thinks the road to success is a combo player that is more expensive than planned already-too-expensive standalone blu ray players.

Of all the Blu Ray vendors, I would have thought Samsung would take the lead on a cheaper standalone player that would negate Toshiba's cost advantage.

If no one attacks this soon, Blu Ray stands to lose ground.