$50 Blu-ray player signal the end of DVD?
With the economic recession in full swing, the CE market sector has been suffering. However, it seems like Blu-ray players are selling quite well. According to an industry analyst, this holiday season may mark the first time consumers will see $50 Blu-ray players, which is a substantial milestone.
Many in the industry doubted that with the recession in place, the Blu-ray format could be adopted as fast as the DVD. However, this has been proven false with the new format blowing past DVD sales same-time during its life.
Last year it was revealed that twice as many Blu-ray players were sold in comparison to DVD players near the beginning of its life. The CE hardware is clearly becoming a popular device despite declining sales in other categories such as the MP3 player market.
According to Afterdawn, Jon Abt, owner of Abt Electronics, one of the largest independent retail companies in America stated that he was surprised by how quickly the prices of Blu-ray players have dropped. Currently, consumers can pick up a nice Blu-ray player for under $200.
NPD Group further broke the figures down by stating that nearly 14 percent of all Blu-ray players sold this year were under $200. This definitely proves that the prices of these devices have come down dramatically for the average consumer.
Ross Rubin, NPD director stated:
We’ve seen very strong growth in Blu-ray players this year. It has been a bright spot in a very gloomy industry landscape… Nearly all other electronics device categories have been down, such as digital cameras and MP3 players.
Rubin expects to see a few $49 Blu-ray players this year on Black Friday, but $99 deals will probably be more prevalent. About seven years ago, when DVD prices hit the $50 mark during Black Friday at Circuit City and Radioshack, it was considered to be the turning point for the format’s dominance. That was around the same time VCR sales started slowly declining. If bargain Blu-ray players are able to reach that sweet spot, it could signal the turning point for the new format as well.
Related Posts:
October 26th, 2009
Hello, wake up dude …. it`s the price of the films that is the problem…. NOT the price of the “DRM infected” players.
October 26th, 2009
One black friday (which is limited to the USA anyway) does not a dvd killer make. You would have to start to see BLurays released at price parity with DVD and the RRP of players hit $50 before there is the chance of suplanting dvd.
October 26th, 2009
Those are the same sorts of arguments people made 7 years ago dudes. They said things like people wouldn’t buy DVD until the movies were priced the same as VHS, that people wouldn’t buy players until they were priced dirt cheap, etc. etc. etc. Do you NOT read the referenced articles? Blu is FAR ahead of where DVD was at the same point in it’s life, EVEN in the midst of a recession, and that’s Sean’s point! As we come out of the recession (which we already ARE coming out, it will just take 6 months or so before teh gov’t tells us so), the future is even BRIGHTER for Bluray than it was for DVD.
The biggest hurdle Blu needs to overcome NOW is portable use. Bluray car seatback players, built in Bluray players in in-vehicle entertainment systems from the big car makers, etc. Yeah, sure, you can SAY digital media is all the rage but until you show me the portable player or auto player system that has a near constant connection to the ‘net for obtaining this content, disc media is going to continue to rule those markets AND keep people that would otherwise make the switch to digital hesitate to do so (who wants to pay twice for the same movie!).
October 27th, 2009
DVD was clearly far ahead of VHS in many ways. Nonlinear access, cheap production and distribution etc…..
I’ve been an early adopter of tech since the ’70′s and don’t see any big reason to move to Blu-ray and I’m actually setup to utilize it in my home theater. 1080P. Nice 7.1 sound system. I spent $699 for my first DVD player and was buying DVDs at $30 a pop since you couldn’t rent them anywhere.
The fact is for most of us the additional cost isn’t worth the toll for the benefit received.
i’ll seriously start to switch when a decent player can be had for $100US and discs are $15. There isn’t really much to draw me.
October 27th, 2009
Every claim the BDA makes about Blu-ray player sales and sales growth is handicapped by the PS3.
If you count it as a player then it’s true that player sales have been higher – but then you have to conclude that Blu-ray sales are very low given the number of players out there.
DVD didn’t get PS2 support until it was in its 4th year.
Blu-ray is behind DVDs growth according to the latest DVD EG report.
Too many people are happy with DVD, unless they rig the market that’s not changing any time soon.