Blu-Ray prices rise without HD DVD

March 13, 2008 | In Technology | No Comments

One of the fears I had when HD DVD announced it was calling it a day was the already absorbent prices of Blu-Ray players would skyrocket with the lack of competition. In the months leading up to the demise of HD DVD, prices of the Blu-Ray competitor were falling dramatically, with players priced under the $100/$150 – a price point that got me to buy into the format.

It has been evident to me for a long time Blu-Ray players were priced based on the PlayStation 3. Sony, the primary backer of the high definition Blu-Ray format also produces the PS3 – set to be a major part of Sony’s revenue stream. Oh yeah, and it plays Blu-Ray movies too.

At $399 and above, Sony’s PlayStation 3 has remained one of the cheaper Blu-Ray players on the market for some time. It appears it will stay that way, at least according to tech blog Engadget.

When Warner Bros. announced it was canceling its support of HD DVD, it said its decision was based on consumer demand. At the time most reports had Blu-Ray 2/3rds lead over HD DVD, but that number was quickly evaporating. As HD DVD was pushing lower priced players on the market, disc sales for the format raised dramatically. Within months it would have been easy to see a more level playing field between the formats.

HD DVD was predominantly run by Toshiba with few hardware companies supporting it, while Sony’s Blu-Ray group included a number of hardware producers. That was a major flaw on the HD DVD side of things – the limitation of product – but this allowed for dramatic price differences between the competitors that would have put more high definition players into peoples homes.

Without competition it appears Blu-Ray prices are spiking again. This will slow adoption to a format that is poised to help almost all media companies with new sources of revenue – as people upgrade their DVD libraries (including those of the rental companies).

As it stands now, I have no intention of buying a Blu-Ray player until the prices become more realistic – say under $200. With the average player coming in closer to $500 and above my back account feels a safe for now.

Read the Engadget story here. (Note: Engadget credits Tom’s Hardware for the story).