What would you do if HD DVD simply does NOT die?

[tron3]

I'm not trying to FUD. It's obvious BD is ahead, but as we have seen this past August with the Paramount / Dreamworks deal, anything can happen out of the blu.

After this Christmas we would be lucky if Warner goes BD exclusive. Face it, HD DVD has a strong showing and growing. It is obvious that consumers will continue to buy HD DVD as long as it is being supported. The war can be won on the studio level over night. Fighting on the consumer level can last indefinately. The infestation is just too great. Natuarlly, either side will see the competition as the infestation.

Personally I see us as having a two stage waiting process. Stage one is to wait until the Christmas 2007 season is over and see what Warner does. Hopefully, Universal follows suit. Stage two is to wait until Christmas 2008 to see if HD DVD gets smeared as Paramount nears the end of the exclusive contract.

Anything can happen - anything. While it would not slow down the sales of PS3 as a gaming system, the sale of players will crawl. Same for HD DVD. If X-box 360 includes the HD DVD player in a new box set, the war stale mates indefinately. Fighting fire with fire. No one will stop supporting HD DVD if there is only a 25% differential in sales. The numbers are still strong.

At that point, with both sides marketing through gaming systems, the playing field is leveled. No victory for anyone, just endless bickering. Consumer adoption could slow down due to frustration. People will be undecided on what to buy, and most simply would not buy both. Solution? They stick to DVD because it truly is "good enough". Again, both formats slowly grow and movie sales will never meet expectations as DVD back in the day.

Personally, I loath the idea of having to go HD DVD. I'm not getting a 360 and the idea of a second player is just more money I don't want to pay. What is my option at that point, DVD? Puh! Either I pay the money for both formats, or give up my movie habit all together and go on to the next thing in my life.

Ultimately ALL FORMATS will suffer. DVD sales slow as people wait for a format to emerge victorious. The HMD formats suffer slow adoption rates, and could ultimately stop. I don't care if Europe is 80% BD. This is America and the war is here - not there.