With the format war pretty much over, what is going to happen to the idea of being purple, or someone who supports both formats? Is purple set to become the new red in 2008?
The XBOX 360 isn't getting that new fancy internal HD DVD drive as so many thought in recent rumors, and Toshiba got strangely tight lipped at CES 08'. As well, Paramount and Universal are acting like the bald eagle in the Muppets speakings of Truth! Justice! and the Consumer way!, but I'll take everything they say with as much truth as I did when WB said they were staying neutral. Despite all this craziness and 999,000 red balloons popping all around the country, what will happen to the million some owners of HD DVD out there?
Does Blu-ray really expect them to be like some and jump on the first sub $299 1.1 complaint blu-ray player out there? If so, I think they are in for a nasty surprise. I would surmise that 25% of HD DVD owners out there are in this category. More than likely XBox Add-on owners, and the ones who didn't really invest that much in HD DVD, or ones who got them for christmas. The rest, in my opinion, are waiting for a price drop in dual format players so they will be able to continue playing between 15 and perhaps hundreds of HD DVD titles that they bought.
So does this put Samsung and LG, the big names in dual at the forefront of consumer attention? Maybe, but at $799-$999, I highly doubt it. So who stands to gain the most from the high-def fallout? Strangely enough I think the biggest winner in dual format is going to be the biggest loser in single format. Toshiba. Yes, the little engine that up and fell off the tracks near the top of the mountain might just be able to make it over the hump, and make lots of money.
With Toshiba being willing to sell single format players for $99 bucks on a clearance sale, we know how much they are willing to lose to stay in the high-def game. So what happens when a company that holds all the cards to a zombie format releases a dual-format player? 1.1 compliant dual-format players for $499 anyone?
I think Toshiba would be silly not to cash in on everyone wanting to jump...well their own ship. Why not do what HD DVD was suppose to do and make the transition to high-def, this time Blu-ray, a whole lot easier? Why not set aside pride and start making blu-ray players but throw in their own format just to sell to that upset demographic? As well, with LG and Samsung finally having some good competition, we could see a dramatic price drop in dual format prices to within the same price as those of single format blu-ray players.
And even though it's dead technology people still buy dual VHS/DVD players, so why would people pay the same price for a single format player when they could get a dual? I think we could see Toshiba's name back in the spotlight very soon, if they play it smart, but for now, we'll just have to wait and see what their next move is.
-David Bock, Cold Coffee Movies.
No comments:
Post a Comment