Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - (Page 6) HIGH-DEF www.homemediamagazine.com Blu-ray Hardware, Disc Sales Inch Lower By Erik Gruenwedel onsumer electronics retailers continue to discount Blu-ray players and movies. Best Buy Co. cut its proprietary Insignia brand Blu-ray player (NS-BRDVD) to $249.99. The Profile 1.1 player, which bowed for $349.99 earlier this year, is available with an additional $100 discount when copurchased with an Insignia 1080p HDTV. The Minneapolis-based CE retailer is offering Warner Home Video Blu-ray movies Shoot ’Em Up, Troy, 300, Pan’s Labyrinth, Ocean’s Thirteen, We Are Marshall and 16 Blocks for $19.99 each after a $15 mail-in rebate. Warner catalog titles Enter the Dragon (with Bruce Lee), Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, Swordfish, The Aviator, The Fugitive, March of the Penguins and Alexander Revisited are available for $14.99 each after a $10 mail-in rebate. Best Buy spokesperson Brian Lucas said the retailer is counting on Blu-ray to be a top holiday seller and has BRIEFS ■ SONY IN BD PATENT SUIT Sony Corp. has been served with a second lawsuit alleging the Japanese consumer electronics giant infringed upon the copyright (patent number 5,438,560) of a third company regarding optical-disc recording. The patent infringement suit, filed Aug. 20 in Texas Eastern Federal District Court by Mountain View, Calif.-based Orinda Intellectual Properties USA, seeks a jury trial, injunction against sales of PlayStation 3 and related Blu-ray Disc players, and a “reasonable royalty” payment. Representatives from Sony and Orinda were not immediately available for com– Erik Gruenwedel ment. Unlike other players that require a firmware upgrade to achieve full capability, the $499 BD-P2500 is ready to go out of the box. The player features Ethernet connectivity, a USB port for outside data storage, 7.1 analog sound and 1GB of internal flash memory. – Erik Gruenwedel redoubled in-store consumer education efforts. “It is our responsibility now to get people to understand what Blu-ray is, and if it is right for them, to show them what the possibilities are,” Lucas said. He said with Profile 2.0 players hitting the shelves, informing consumers is key. Lowering the price is just one way for consumers to take note, Lucas said. “Prices have come down to the point where [Blu-ray] no longer is a huge investment for a family,” he said. “We think it might be the sweet spot for the holidays.” Rival Circuit City Stores is offering the identical Warner catalog titles for $14.99, with the additions of Bullitt (with Steve McQueen) and The Shining. The Richmond, Va.-based retailer offered Lionsgate catalog Blu-ray fare, including Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Stargate, The Punisher and The Devil’s Rejects for $14.99 after mail-in rebate. The No. 2 CE retailer also took $50 off Samsung’s (BDP1500) profile 1.1 player, offering it at $349.99. ■ PIONEER LAUNCHES KURO CAMPAIGN Pioneer Electronics has launched a new brand campaign for its second-generation Kuro flat-panel TVs and audio-video products. The campaign, the second for the brand, focuses on the idea that great entertainment can be transformative. The campaign will incorporate print black-and-white images transforming viewers’ perceptions. It will hit television (ESPN), print (Esquire, Men’s Health and Wired) – Billy Gil and online outlets. ■ SAMSUNG TO BOW BD LIVE PLAYER Samsung Electronics in October will release the BD-P2500, the consumer electronics manufacturer’s first Blu-ray player with BD Live (Internet connectivity). Sony Bows Fall Blu-ray Players By Erik Gruenwedel ony Corp. unveiled its fall lineup of Blu-ray players and recorders, including players already launched and earmarked for the U.S. market at $399, $499 and $2,000. Sony projects global sales of industrywide Blu-ray players and recorders to top 7 million units by March 2009, compared to 2.1 million units in March 2008. The consumer electronics manufacturer said it expects to snare 44% (3.1 million units) of those sales, excluding sales of an ad- S ditional 10 million Blu-ray-enabled PlayStation 3s. The new Sony Profile 1.1 players, priced at $399 and $499, can be upgraded to 2.0 players offering Web connectivity (BD Live). The $399 BDP-S350, which bowed in the United States in July, can accommodate a 1GB storage upgrade as well (via a USB drive). The $499 BDP-S550 has improved audio support and includes 1GB of “persistent memory” storage. “The S550 ships with everything you need out of the box to be fully BD Live capable, once the firmware update hits,” said Paul Erickson, director of DVD and HD market research with DisplaySearch, a NPD group company. The players replace the S300 and S500 Profile 1.0 players Sony released last year, according to Erickson. Billed as the “world’s most advanced” Blu-ray player, the Profile 2.0 $2,000 unit (BDP-S5000ES) aims to be a video connoisseur’s dream. In addition to 1GB of internal storage capacity, the player claims improved color depth (HD reality enhancer) and resolution (super bit mapping), BD Live (Internet connectivity) and BonusView (picturein-picture). The player also boasts a high-performance 14-bit/297MHz video D/A converter for superior analogue video output and 7.1-channel linear PCM output as well as Dolby TrueHD/DTS- HD bitstream audio output to external AV receivers/decoders. Additionally it includes a gold-plated HDMI port and related A/V connections. It’s slated to be available in December. “The ‘price is no object’ people will pay for it,” Erickson said. “If you can afford a $5,000 Pioneer Kuro Plasma HDTV, you can probably afford to buy the best Blu-ray player out there.” He said the player would likely remain exclusive to specialty stores and not appear at Best Buy or Circuit City. The analyst said the fourth quarter, and Black Friday in particular, would offer a window into how consumers react to the less-expensive $250 and $299 Profile 1.1 Blu-ray players.He envisions the S350 and S550 retail prices falling to $299 and $399-$450, respectively, in 2009. He said the $200 player price would not be reached this year. TOP 20 HIGH-DEF BLU-R AY D ISC Week ended August 31, 2008 LABEL INDEX TOP 20 HIGH-DEF B D M A R K E T S HA R E Percentage of Sales Per Title vs DVD Week ended August 31, 2008 LABEL PERCENT TITLE TITLE B LU- R AY D I S C C O M I N G UP STREETING Cool Hand Luke Warner Street Date: 9/9 The Fall Sony Pictures Street Date: 9/9 The Forbidden Kingdom Lionsgate Street Date: 9/9 Jerry Maguire Sony Pictures Street Date: 9/9 Kill Bill Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 Disney Street Date: 9/9 PREBOOKING The Incredible Hulk Universal Pre: 9/9, Street: 10/21 The Happening Fox Pre: 9/10, Street: 10/7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 The Nightmare Before Christmas Disney Heroes: Season 2 Universal What Happens in Vegas Fox Batman Begins Warner Street Kings Fox Heroes: Season 1 Universal Twister Warner 300 Warner Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles … Warner V for Vendetta Warner The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior Universal Planet Earth: The Complete Series BBC Video The Bank Job Lionsgate 21 Sony Pictures Top Gun Paramount Afro Samurai: Season 1 Funimation Troy: Director’s Cut Warner Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Disney Goodfellas Warner Casino Royale Sony Pictures 100.00 77.46 40.75 35.23 20.45 18.94 14.79 14.46 14.36 12.67 11.25 9.61 9.05 9.00 8.81 8.62 8.29 8.00 7.25 6.93 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Twister V for Vendetta Goodfellas 300 Troy: Director’s Cut Batman Begins Top Gun Planet Earth: The Complete Series Heroes: Season 1 Afro Samurai: Season 1 Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles … The Nightmare Before Christmas The Bank Job Casino Royale Street Kings Heroes: Season 2 21 The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both What Happens in Vegas Warner Warner Warner Warner Warner Warner Paramount BBC Video Universal Funimation Warner Disney Lionsgate Sony Pictures Fox Universal Sony Pictures Universal Disney Fox 91.48% 65.48% 43.02% 39.26% 38.70% 38.25% 33.53% 33.45% 28.69% 23.81% 18.71% 16.67% 15.07% 12.38% 9.16% 8.00% 7.85% 7.21% 4.45% 3.82% Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Home Media Magazine September 7–13, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 Home Media Magazine - September 7, 2008 News Tweens Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - September 7, 2008 (Page Cover1) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - September 7, 2008 (Page Cover2) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - September 7, 2008 (Page 1) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - September 7, 2008 (Page 2) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - September 7, 2008 (Page 3) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - News (Page 4) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - News (Page 5) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - News (Page 6) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - News (Page 7) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - News (Page 8) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - News (Page 9) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Tweens (Page 10) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Tweens (Page 11) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Reviews (Page 12) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Reviews (Page 13) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Reviews (Page 14) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Reviews (Page 15) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Reviews (Page 16) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Reviews (Page 17) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Pipeline (Page 18) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Pipeline (Page 19) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 20) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 21) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 22) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 23) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 24) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 25) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 26) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 27) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 28) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover3) Home Media Magazine - September 7-13, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover4)
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