Archived: Insiders Thread

[BluOgre]

Originally Posted by akbungle

Here are some expanded comments from Stringer.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/...4f1036c8398c0e

I don't get it....that really doesn't say anything about there being a stalemate. If that is all that was said that is very bad journalism by MSNBC /sigh

[Bombthroat]

Originally Posted by BluOgre

I don't get it....that really doesn't say anything about there being a stalemate. If that is all that was said that is very bad journalism by MSNBC /sigh

MSnbc...hmm...

[sphdle1]

Originally Posted by BluOgre

I don't get it....that really doesn't say anything about there being a stalemate. If that is all that was said that is very bad journalism by MSNBC /sigh

It is M$ after all!

[TauRus]

Originally Posted by akbungle

Here are some expanded comments from Stringer.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/...4f1036c8398c0e

Is it possible that Insiders could indicate whether Mr Stringer's messages were captured correctly? I am not asking their opnion on whether he was right or not, not asking to comment on his speech, just asking to verify to what degree these report are accurate.
Seems like some quotes were taken way out of context, others do not make complete sense.

[LynxFX]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

It did not include the box or the PS3 packins

Using the HMR chart, the box sold 93,000 copies.

It would be great to get some solid clarification on this. If the box set really did sell that well then that is close to 300,000 individual titles sold just with the boxset itself, and over 400,000 when the single SM3 disc sales are added. Surely Sony would want to mention that in their press release as that is huge and a new record for discs sold in a single week. Maybe they didn't have the boxset numbers in yet when they made the press release so we should be getting a new one shortly with revised numbers?

Otherwise we are looking at ~93,600 SM3 sales and ~36,400 boxset sales.

[phloyd]

Originally Posted by BluOgre

I don't get it....that really doesn't say anything about there being a stalemate. If that is all that was said that is very bad journalism by MSNBC /sigh

The 'stalemate' word seems to have been introduced by the Associated Press report.

Of course, now anyone who quotes that report implies that he used the word, which does not appear to be the case.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/...ap4320602.html

[phloyd]

Originally Posted by TauRus

Is it possible that Insiders could indicate whether Mr Stringer's messages were captured correctly?

Well, considering they say that he said that if HD DVD won, they would only have to change the PS3 hard drive, I can quite imagine that they are not good at reporting what people say...

Changing the hard drive makes no sense at all...

[blix01]

Originally Posted by akbungle

Here are some expanded comments from Stringer.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/...4f1036c8398c0e

Wow, I just read the extended article and I pictured the CEO and reporter at a bar/restaurant and Mr. SInger having a few too many drinks. His responses are melencholy. He openly envies other companies with smaller productlines, and it sounds like he doesn't even want to be CEO. His factually incorrect comments are embarassing (ie: switching to HDDVD would require a hard drive change. Im sure he meant a DVD drive change.)

In response to the question of How he pictures himself after Sony:, he responds "SInking giggling into the sea". huh???

Mr. Singer is probably nursing a hangover today and should probably be getting a pink slip from the board soon.

[gearyt]

CEO's come.... CEO's go.......

[Proteus]

Well...

given all the information we have now it's probably likely he was drunk or drugged.

Either way, he should not be allowed to carry on as the CEO of such a large corporation any longer. He simply doesn't have enough 'category experience'.

I have neighbor kids in high school that could have made better statements to press.

The board really does need to re-evaluate this guy.

[xbd]

Originally Posted by Proteus

Well...

given all the information we have now it's probably likely he was drunk or drugged.

Either way, he should not be allowed to carry on as the CEO of such a large corporation any longer. He simply doesn't have enough 'category experience'.

I have neighbor kids in high school that could have made better statements to press.

The board really does need to re-evaluate this guy.

CEO's are judged on their financial performance; Stringer is close to achieving his goal of 5% margins at Sony. People need to stop reading press releases and articles and sizing up an executive and his merit based on their own feelings on the matter. Stringer is doing what he was promoted to do, and achieving those goals.

[TauRus]

Originally Posted by phloyd

Well, considering they say that he said that if HD DVD won, they would only have to change the PS3 hard drive, I can quite imagine that they are not good at reporting what people say...

Changing the hard drive makes no sense at all...

Certainly, that was the red herring that draw my attention too. I just gave the benefit of the doubt that this was some sort of a typo or misunderstanding. However, I wanted to hear from those in the know whether the general tone of the message was still accurate or not.

[TauRus]

Like someone also mentioned, my first reaction having read the article was that Mr Stringer was intentionally allowing the other party to use this PR to save face when the time comes to declare they are joining forces with the BDA. It would seem logical, since Toshiba is ironically now will be more engaged with the Blu-ray via more active participation the Cell development. Hopefully at some point Toshiba realizes that partnering with BDA is a more strategic move that further antagonizing the whole CE industry. Perhaps they already know that. Perhaps they are already moving in this direction. After all we only see the tips of few icebergs here and there.

[Elandyll]

Playing it down low, saying he wouldn't mind going back in time and work with Toshiba for a common format .. the week BD does 71:29 in spite of the fire sale that must have cost millions of Doh to Toshiba ...

Could definitely be a subtle hint at Tosh that they can drop the other shoe now and see the light, joining the Blu familly

[Esox50]

You guys thinking Stringer is hinting for Toshiba to come join Blu are really stretching...

I think Hollywood and the CE industry are getting tired of the war, and are realizing the danger they all face if they don't get this straight by 2Q08/3Q08. I have no doubt, since the latter part of August where HD DVD started making desperate moves, that we are approaching the end game at a quicker pace than we were previously...

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by TauRus

Is it possible that Insiders could indicate whether Mr Stringer's messages were captured correctly? I am not asking their opnion on whether he was right or not, not asking to comment on his speech, just asking to verify to what degree these report are accurate.
Seems like some quotes were taken way out of context, others do not make complete sense.

Like I said guys, I wasn’t at the event, it’s Friday and I’m done for the day.

The most accurate depiction of what was said, what wasn’t said, in what exact context and hopefully without edits would still be videotape.

In the meantime, perhaps in the next few days, Stephen J. Adler will post a videotape of the discussion here………………..
http://www.businessweek.com/mediacen...try/index.html

Also, a good thing to keep in mind is that whatever was said or wasn't said at a setting like this is a snapshot of a moment in time.

[Dagger]

I know I'm not an insider so please don't crucify me, but what I got from the article is Stringer lamenting about the cost of competition.

Competition is great for the consumer, but it could really be tough for the businesses involved. We all know that at some level both Toshiba and Sony are losing money on hardware by being involved in this "war".

This reminds me of Netflix commenting on the competition with Blockbuster. By both constantly trying to undercut each other, both lose out. Netflix stated that the market is so huge and that there is plenty of revenue for both of them - so why take money out of our pockets when there's plenty to be had. And this is Netflix which is in a much stronger financial position than Blockbuster.

With Toshiba and Sony, they both could have jointly developed something and still have made a ton of money. We know that this war is slowing down adoption. So not only is money lost by constantly trying to undercut each other, but the revenue that they are losing because adoption isn't as strong as it could be.

[Ilka]

Paidgeek, et.al.:

Dell.ca is now offering:

- 1 40GB PS3 Sony console;
- 1 game (Ratchet/Clank, or 1 other), or +1 wireless controller;
- 1 HDMI cable;
- 1 Spidey 3 BD movie;
- (and as expected, 5 free BD movies ...)

for $399 Canajun ... is this the start of the XMAS Sony push? Anyways, congrats Sony!

PS - I knew nothing about this deal until an office mate mentioned it at lunch today (he'd already ordered). 3 hours later, heard about about another peep ordering (but not from dell.ca).

[The Guardian]

I don't know if any of the insiders can do anything about this....

The latest version of Macleans magazine just came out in Canada, with the annual university rankings. This is a HUGE issue which is read in-depth by more people than any other issue for the year.

In a very GOOD location I found a full page colour ad for the Blu-ray promotion of 5 free movies. Great! One problem though - it was for the SUMMER promotion still! "Must be postmarked by October 31st" and all. In a November 19th issue.

Someone might want to send Macleans the new version of the ad!

[xradman]

This is for Paidgeek or any other insider.

Tartan US Blu-ray release of Oldboy comes with dts HD MA 7.1 Korean audio track. My PS3 is showing that it is only able to decode dts core track at 768kbps. Is this a limitation of PS3 or due to how it was encoded? I expected dts core bitrate of dts HD and dts MA audio track to be 1.5Mbps. Is this somehow related to this being a 7.1 track rather than 5.1 track?

Thank you,