High Def Forum - Your High Definition Community & High Definition Resource - View Single Post - The reason why Sony is quick to claim victory in the format war

fryet · 03-21-2007, 10:52 AM

Maybe this is obvious to everyone, but I think it is worth stating. If Sony can get people to believe that Blu-ray will eventually win the format war, it will have a major impact on player sales. Consider these 2 types of buyers:

Buyer A: Has decided to buy a player, and is trying to determine which player to buy.
Buyer B: Wants a player, but has decided to wait until the format war is settled so that they be assurred to choose the "winning side".

If Sony can convince Buyer B that Blu-ray will eventually win, Buyer B may get off the sidelines and actually purchase the player. Most Buyers of Type A will be most concerned that the player that they buy will still have a strong library of movies to choose from in the future. If they are convinced that Blu-ray is going to win, then they will tend to select a Blu-ray player, even if HD-DVD is a superior product.

I think you can expect Sony to continue to continue to proclaim themselves as the winner, even though it is very premature to be declaring a winner in the format war. I think it is hurting HD-DVD a lot to be selling half the movies that BR is selling. If this trend continues for much longer (or worsens), people are going to start believing Sony's hype, and the perception will then become reality.

In my opinion, this is what Toshiba needs to do:
1. Make sure that April sales figures show a close format war. Give away free movies as well if they have to. Make sure that Universal releases a lot of new movies in the month of April.
2. Get a $300 stand-alone player out the door by June.
3. Hope that they are right, and the only reason that BR is currently leading is due to PS3 owners redeeming a free movie coupon.
4. If any data starts to show HD-DVD winning, declare themselves the winner. That will cause Buyer A and Buyer B focus more on their product.

03-21-2007, 10:52 AM	#1
fryet High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Bay Area, CA Age: 38 Posts: 634	The reason why Sony is quick to claim victory in the format war Maybe this is obvious to everyone, but I think it is worth stating. If Sony can get people to believe that Blu-ray will eventually win the format war, it will have a major impact on player sales. Consider these 2 types of buyers: Buyer A: Has decided to buy a player, and is trying to determine which player to buy. Buyer B: Wants a player, but has decided to wait until the format war is settled so that they be assurred to choose the "winning side". If Sony can convince Buyer B that Blu-ray will eventually win, Buyer B may get off the sidelines and actually purchase the player. Most Buyers of Type A will be most concerned that the player that they buy will still have a strong library of movies to choose from in the future. If they are convinced that Blu-ray is going to win, then they will tend to select a Blu-ray player, even if HD-DVD is a superior product. I think you can expect Sony to continue to continue to proclaim themselves as the winner, even though it is very premature to be declaring a winner in the format war. I think it is hurting HD-DVD a lot to be selling half the movies that BR is selling. If this trend continues for much longer (or worsens), people are going to start believing Sony's hype, and the perception will then become reality. In my opinion, this is what Toshiba needs to do: 1. Make sure that April sales figures show a close format war. Give away free movies as well if they have to. Make sure that Universal releases a lot of new movies in the month of April. 2. Get a $300 stand-alone player out the door by June. 3. Hope that they are right, and the only reason that BR is currently leading is due to PS3 owners redeeming a free movie coupon. 4. If any data starts to show HD-DVD winning, declare themselves the winner. That will cause Buyer A and Buyer B focus more on their product.