Disney considering raising Blu-ray prices?

[HKMOVIESAREBEST]

We predicted drastic measures in Blu-ray pricing, but Disney might be going the wrong way. CEO Robert Iger indicated on a conference call with analysts today that since the company's Blu-ray releases are packing all sorts of extra features like Digital Copy and BD-Live, it might be able to raise prices following a Q1 profit drop of 64%. The scariest part is that Disney's economic shortfalls were consistent with the overall home entertainment downturn, so it might not be the only studio with this reaction to shrinking profits, looking to squeeze an extra few bucks out of the customers willing to spend the most.

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[MOONPHASE]

i dont see the need for it i mean they make the best Blu-ray releases and its not like their releases are not selling but if they want to charge extra for giving us a dvd with the Blu-ray how about just no dvd?

[Blaumann]

Imo it's verbal damage control in face of the bad financials they had to present. "Yeah those numbers are bad, but we have the following options....."

Personally i'll simply wait and see, if anything like this happens at all. Which i doubt.

[richieb1971]

They will make more money by lowering the price. The companies who make the biggest money are those who price things where the most people can afford them.

[HKMOVIESAREBEST]

Originally Posted by MOONPHASE

how about just no dvd?

Or no digital copies, I've never used one and if I'm paying extra for it I refuse to buy films with it packaged.

[Marquoz]

They should offer options like they did with Wall-E. The big lagniappe version with all the frills, BD-Live, Digital Copy, DVD, priced one way, then offer a second vanilla version with the movie, the standard extras, and none of the rest. Compare the way the two sell over 6 months to a year, and then make a decision about which to do standard.

[Mr. Cinema]

I was cutting back my purchases anyways. Raising prices will make it really easy for me. Disney already raised the list price of their catalog titles to a ridiculous $35.99.

[fighthefutureofhd]

if they're already selling their blu-rays at pretty reasonable prices and no one's biting then selling them cheaper isn't going to help. i think this move isn't pitch perfect, but it does make some sense.

[Terjyn]

Originally Posted by richieb1971

They will make more money by lowering the price. The companies who make the biggest money are those who price things where the most people can afford them.

This is blatantly not true. The companies who make the biggest money are those who price things correctly for the market they are targetting.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by HKMOVIESAREBEST

Or no digital copies, I've never used one and if I'm paying extra for it I refuse to buy films with it packaged.

too many releases have these and I don't know how many people actualy use the digital disc?

[Maximus]

Nothing in the article says Disney are considering raising Blu-ray prices. All it is, is speculation from analysts that Disney need a way to raise the bottom line and Blu-ray could be a soft target.

If anything I expect Disney to cut prices to get the market moving and increase Blu-ray revenues faster to compensate for declining DVD revenues.

[Grubert]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

Nothing in the article says Disney are considering raising Blu-ray prices. All it is, is speculation from analysts that Disney need a way to raise the bottom line and Blu-ray could be a soft target.

Actually yes:

Iger added that, with many of Disney's Blu-ray titles including features such as a standard-definition of the film and other extras, the company may be able to raise prices on such titles.

http://www.videobusiness.com/article....html?nid=3513

[Bobby Henderson]

Raising prices will only reduce the number of paying customers. There are some of us who have no problem paying $30-$40 for a movie on Blu-ray. The mainstream public isn't willing to go along with that.

I usually won't pay more than $20-$25 for a Blu-ray movie. Usually most titles fall within that range when ordering from web sites like Amazon. In other cases the prices for some titles gets dropped after awhile. I recently bought a copy of Beowulf at Wal-Mart for $19.95. The store previously had the movie priced at $29.95. I may cave in to temptation and buy I Robot since that's another one that's been dropped from $30 to $20.

The biggest surge of growth the DVD format saw was when stores like Wal-Mart and others began offering catalog titles and new releases more than 6 months old for significantly reduced prices.

I know Hollywood movie studios don't want to get heavy into the "loss leader" pricing with Blu-ray. They sure won't make much money at all from selling BD movies for under $10. Nevertheless, they do need to at least get more new BD releases in closer to the $20 level and allow releases that have been on store shelves for several months to fall to $15 levels. They'll move a lot more BD titles that way. Keeping prices near $30 or above will just keep lots of people looking and not buying.

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by Grubert

Actually yes:



http://www.videobusiness.com/article....html?nid=3513

That'd be for Blu-rays including a large number of extras.

I would hazard a guess that a standard edition will always be available at a normal price level. Disney would be introducing pricing levels above the norm to raise the amount of revenue gained from a single title while keeping the base price at a standard level.

If Disney don't offer lower priced version without the crap they will find quickly that people won't pay extra for stuff they don't use, sales will go down and revenue will go down.

It's a pretty dangerous path to go down, but stupider things have happened, and I learned pretty quickly that when it comes to making stupid decisions studios are pretty good at it.

[BluOgre]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

That'd be for Blu-rays including a large number of extras.

I would hazard a guess that a standard edition will always be available at a normal price level. Disney would be introducing pricing levels above the norm to raise the amount of revenue gained from a single title while keeping the base price at a standard level.

If Disney don't offer lower priced version without the crap they will find quickly that people won't pay extra for stuff they don't use, sales will go down and revenue will go down.

It's a pretty dangerous path to go down, but stupider things have happened, and I learned pretty quickly that when it comes to making stupid decisions studios are pretty good at it.

I agree, stuidos like to make stupid decisions. The fact Disney is only releasing Bolt on this higher tier price is a good example. Just because they want to include digital copy, DVD copy, and the Blu-ray movie all in one package doesn't mean they can't offer a Blu-ray movie by itself.

The cost to me is about 3 dollars more than the previous Disney titles so I have to add that to my sale price. They are going to learn the hard way cheaper is better, especially in this enviroment.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Yeah, I wish they would just drop the digital copies. If that is making a difference in the price, then that is stupid (IMO) and give me an option where I don't have to buy it.

Digital copies suck anyway because they expire. Why do I want to pay for something extra that not only don't want, but also can't even use after a certain time? That's just pointless.

[vmaxkevin]

Originally Posted by Marquoz

They should offer options like they did with Wall-E. The big lagniappe version with all the frills, BD-Live, Digital Copy, DVD, priced one way, then offer a second vanilla version with the movie, the standard extras, and none of the rest. Compare the way the two sell over 6 months to a year, and then make a decision about which to do standard.

I agree. A movie like that would be a perfect one to do that with too.

[vmaxkevin]

Originally Posted by Dynamo of Eternia

Yeah, I wish they would just drop the digital copies. If that is making a difference in the price, then that is stupid (IMO) and give me an option where I don't have to buy it.

Digital copies suck anyway because they expire. Why do I want to pay for something extra that not only don't want, but also can't even use after a certain time? That's just pointless.

I'm pretty sure it's only the code that expires (usually about a year). The movie itself doesn't expire. Anybody?

Mark me as somebody who loves digital copies. 2 kids on a road trip, an iPod loaded with Disney stuff connected to a portable DVD player equals peace.

[BruceWayne]

Originally Posted by Dynamo of Eternia

Yeah, I wish they would just drop the digital copies. If that is making a difference in the price, then that is stupid (IMO) and give me an option where I don't have to buy it.

Digital copies suck anyway because they expire. Why do I want to pay for something extra that not only don't want, but also can't even use after a certain time? That's just pointless.

Or only include the code that will allow you to download it, a sheet of paper should be cheaper than the disc. I like them for travelling, so I usually just download them as I get them so that my code doesn't expire but I don't put them all onto my iphone at once (plus they wouldn't all fit)

[kdn1221]

- Keep the price reasonable, lower them if possible.
- Produce a good quality BD.
- Keep the extras, preferrably in HD quality as well.
- Dump the DVD.
- Dump the digital copy.

Problem solved.