Netflix wins all: Blu-ray vs HD-DVD vs Apple TV vs Unbox vs DVD
By Danny Mendez
Recently, Toshiba abandoned its HD-DVD format because Sony killed it with the efficiency of an authentic ninja. Though the whole conflict may not have been worth Sony’s effot, Blu-ray is now considered the official winner of the war. Either way, we all know who’s the real winner here: Netflix and the consumer (but not the consumers that bought HD-DVD machines).
Netflix will collect revenue like a greedy, state lotto winner in the next few years. Their business model is simple: they support everything (Blu-ray, DVD, HD-DVD, and digital downloads). The company’s even giving customers options to stream digital content to next-gen video game consoles, making Netflix’s Watch Now (video-on-demand) feature just that much better.
It’s a genius and simple way to fight the Apple TV and Amazon’s Unbox. Just give users the ability to stream digital video to boxes already connected to consumers’ TVs! There’s no need to buy anything extra unlike the Apple TV and Unbox, which requires a Tivo or PC.
If a customer would like to watch a movie or TV show unavailable through Watch Now, he could easily order it via Netflix’s traditional DVD and Blu-ray rental delivery service.
Late last year, Netflix destroyed Blockbuster’s DVD delivery service by lowering prices beyond Blockbuster’s threshold. Before that, it killed Walmart’s DVD delivery rental service before it had a reasonable chance of success.
Netflix is ruthless when it comes to beating competitors, and now it has the Apple TV/iTunes combo and Amazon’s Unbox in its sights. It has an established base of set-top boxes (Xbox 360 and PS3 machines) to stream Watch Now. Furthermore, Watch Now, which recently went “unlimited”, is a feature available to all customers at no further cost. It’s also expected to go HD eventually, and subscription prices are as low as $9/month as opposed to everyone else’s pay-per-feature model.
As long as Netflix doesn’t blow its advantage, the company can’t lose in this whole fiasco. Though a monopoly in this field wouldn’t be advantageous for consumers, there’s an obvious war it will fight against competitors, which always means lower prices for consumers.
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February 18th, 2008
One very important clarification. Netflix’s Watch Now is not available to all customers. You can’t use on the Mac, and the Mac user base is growing.
February 18th, 2008
Yes, Watch Now doesn’t not work on the Mac, but it doesn’t mean it’s not available to them. They just need a PC — sadly.
February 18th, 2008
Yes, Watch Now doesn’t work on Mac OSX, but it doesn’t mean it’s not available to them. The customer just doesn’t have the hardware to use it, and the service is still offered.
February 18th, 2008
Correction: Netflix doesn’t support everything. They are following Blockbuster’s decision to stop buying more HDs for its rental service and grow its blu-ray base.
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http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2008/02/11/netflix-follows-blockbusters-blu-ray-lead.aspx