The Format War Is Helping To Lower Prices On Players For Both Hdtv Camps

[HDTV1080P]

The one good thing about this format war between two competing camps is prices are falling down faster then if there was only one HDTV optical format. For example one can get the discounted first generation Toshiba HD-D1 for under $300 delivered. With Toshiba setting new prices April 1st , the Toshiba HD-A2 on April first will be $399, Toshiba HD-A20 will be $499, and The Toshiba HD-XA2 will be $799.
If Toshiba was smart they would release a third generation HD-DVD player in late 2007 that had a 1080P/24 output. To be fair the HD-DVD players most likely will be selling $100 cheaper then the above listed prices after April first at Internet discount stores.
http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Toshiba/High-Def_Disc_Marketing/Hardware/Toshiba_Sets_New_Low_with_$400_HD_DVD_Player_Prici ng/534

BLU-RAY is still affordable. Just because the players for HD-DVD format will most likely be always a little cheaper does not mean that consumers are going to purchase the cheapest players. BLU-RAY Sony PS3 sales for $499. The Samsung discontinued first generation BDP-1000 sales for $479 for factory new model. Most likely the Samsung BDP-1000 will be selling for $399 toward the end of April. The Samsung BDP-1200 second generation BLU-RAY player with a 1080P/24 output list price is $799 but will be selling around the $649.99 price range from Internet discount stores.

Even if one day in the future the HD-DVD players are selling for $50 and BLU-RAY players are selling for $200, since BLU-RAY camp has more exclusive studios BLU-RAY will most likely be winning this format war. Universal Studios is the only major exclusive studio that HD-DVD camp has. This is not like the BETA and VHS format war where every studio supports both formats. HD-DVD’s only hope is to be able to sale enough players to convince some of the exclusive BLU-RAY studios to produce movies in HD-DVD format.