Home Media Magazine - February 24, 2008 - (Page 14) HIGH-DEF www.homemediamagazine.com Analysts: Blu Win Inevitable By Chris Tribbey nalysts aren’t surprised at Toshiba for abandoning HD DVD just one month after vowing to fight on in the wake of Warner Bros.’ surprising early January defection to the Blu-ray Disc camp. Michael Pachter, media analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles, said HD DVD’s demise was inevitable, since Toshiba couldn’t compete with Sony on sales volume. Sony included Bluray playback on the PlayStation 3 game console, which has sold more than 3 million units in the United States alone, according to research firm The NPD Group. Toshiba revealed during its Feb. 19 announcement that only 1.03 million HD DVD players, including the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on, had been sold worldwide. Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for The NPD Group, said a combination of factors killed HD DVD. “You can’t quite pin down one murderer,” he said. First came the Warner announcement. Then came the final blow — or, rather, three blows, all in one week. First Netflix announced it would only carry Blu-ray product. Then Best Buy said it would give preference to Bluray in its stores. Finally, Wal-Mart announced it would no longer carry HD DVD software — an ironic twist, given that the discount chain had been one of the primary sellers of A low-priced HD DVD players. “Wal-Mart’s decision certainly was impossible to bounce back from,” Rubin said. Still, analysts warned that just because Blu-ray has won the battle, it hasn’t won over everyone’s living room. “This certainly clears an obstacle for Blu-ray,” Rubin said. “The format will become more appealing to consumers, and the economies of scale kick in and player prices should go down. But the technology is still sandwiched between consumer satisfaction with DVD on one side, and the growing number of digital distribution options on the other.” Rob Enderle, media analyst with The Enderle Group in San Jose, Calif., said players are too expensive and need to drop below $200 for wider consumer adoption. In addition, current standalone Blu-ray players will soon be obsolete and can’t be updated to play all the features on some Blu-ray Discs. “The current technology was The Pioneer Loft allows film professionals to view content in high-def. rushed to market incomplete and is different than the typical technology update cycle,” Enderle said. Patcher said to expect Blu-ray player sales from 20,000 to 30,000 units over the next several months. He also predicts retailers such as Best Buy By Erik Gruenwedel The Loft allows cinematographers, will aggressively push the PS3. he format war may be over, directors, editors and executives to Additional reporting by Erik Gruenwedel. but not the task of allowing screen and tinker with HD content, developers, producers and including video games, as it plays on creators to perfect the nuances of a 60-inch screen in a home theater BRIEFS high-definition audio and video. setting or simultaneously on flatTestronic Labs enhanced its Bur- panel plasma and LCD monitors. I AMAZON GOES BLU-RAY veil six high-definition channels in the state of bank, Calif.-based postproduction The Loft is not open to the public but Amazon.com said it would join other ma- Washington. Channels include Animal Planet facility to allow studio testing of is available at no charge by reservajor retailers and begin showcasing Blu-ray HD, Discovery Channel HD, The Learning Blu-ray Java, BD-Live and even new- tion to film professionals. hardware and software more prominently Channel HD, Home & Garden TV HD, Food ly defunct HD DVD’s interactive Paul Meyhoefer, VP of plasma on its site. Citing consumer preference, Network HD and Sci Fi Channel HD. component, HDi. marketing and product planning Peter Faricy, VP of music and movies, “The challenges have been sig- with Pioneer, said the Loft helps said Blu-ray movies accounted for 75% of I SONY LICENSES AUTHORING nificant for developers, but testing developers perfect HD content. Amazon’s HD sales since January. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has methodology is equally stretched as “They have a vision and want to The move marks a swift turnaround inked a distribution agreement with interclients need to maintain existing re- replicate that vision to whomever for Amazon, which just last week said it active TV company Ensequence to license lease schedules despite the increas- is going to watch this film or play remained format agnostic. Indeed, the and resell its Blu-ray Java authoring teching complexity of the process,” said this game,” Meyhoefer said. “Often retailer said it would continue carrying HD nology. The software, on-Q Create, is inJohan Craeybeckx, chief technology they don’t have the bandwidth, auDVD players and movies. tended to help independent authors creofficer of Testronic. dio or video capabilities to see the ate interactive HD features without having Separately, Pioneer Electronics in new technologies’ impact on their I COMCAST UPS HD advanced knowledge of Java. March will open The Pioneer Loft, content.” Comcast Communications March 4 will un– Erik Gruenwedel a specially designed 1,800-squareHe said the Loft would appeal to foot room in West Hollywood, Calif. cinematography aficionados. HD Test Facilities, Showroom Unveiled T TOP 10 HIGH-DEF SELLERS H IG H -D EF SELLER S Week ended February 17, 2008 FORMAT LABEL INDEX TOP 10 HIGH-DEF SELLERS HI GH- DE F S E L L E RS Aggregate by Title Week ended February 17, 2008 FORMAT LABEL INDEX TITLE TITLE 30 Days of Night H I G H -D E F CO M I NG U P STREETING 30 Days of Night Blu-ray Sony Pictures Street Date: 2/26 The Assassination HD DVD/DVD Warner Street Date: 2/26 Justice League Blu-ray Warner Street Date: 2/26 Terminator 3: Rise of Blu-ray Warner Street Date: 2/26 To Kill a King Blu-ray Anchor Bay Street: 2/26 Mr. Magorium’s Blu-ray Fox Street Date: 3/4 No Reservations HD DVD/DVD Warner Street Date: 3/4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 We Own the Night Gone Baby Gone Across the Universe Planet Earth: The Complete Series Transformers The Bourne Ultimatum The Assassination of Jesse James … No Reservations Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End 3:10 to Yuma Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray HD DVD HD DVD/DVD Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray Sony Pictures 100.00 Disney/Miramax 62.68 Sony Pictures 36.75 BBC Video 32.15 Para/DreamWorks 31.37 Universal 29.04 Warner 26.21 Warner 24.76 Disney 24.12 Lionsgate 23.49 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 We Own the Night Gone Baby Gone Planet Earth: The Complete Series Across the Universe Transformers The Bourne Ultimatum The Assassination of Jesse James … 300 No Reservations Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End Blu-ray Sony Pictures 100.00 Blu-ray Disney/Miramax 62.68 BD; HD DVD BBC Video 39.53 Blu-ray Sony Pictures 36.75 HD DVD Para/DreamWorks 31.37 HD DVD/DVD Universal 29.04 Blu-ray Warner 26.21 BD; HD DVD/DVD Warner 26.02 Blu-ray Warner 24.76 Blu-ray Disney 24.12 Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data TOP 5 HIGH-DEF BLU-R AY D ISC Week ended February 17, 2008 LABEL INDEX TOP 5 HIGH-DEF HD DVD Week ended February 17, 2008 LABEL INDEX TITLE TITLE 1 2 3 4 5 We Own the Night Gone Baby Gone Across the Universe Planet Earth: The Complete Series The Assassination of Jesse James … Sony Pictures Disney/Miramax Sony Pictures BBC Video Warner 100.00 62.68 36.75 32.15 26.21 1 2 3 4 5 Transformers The Bourne Ultimatum Shooter Van Helsing Inside Man Para/DreamWorks 100.00 Universal 92.58 Paramount 51.95 Universal 40.34 Universal 40.16 Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data 14 Home Media Magazine February 24–March 1, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://Amazon.com
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