Study: Blu Ray Still not a Must Have Format

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May 1, 2008 - 2:03:32 PM - Consumers are still taking a ho-hum attitude toward Sony's Blu-ray high-definition DVD technology, despite the end of the format war with HD DVD that was supposed to clear the way for hesitant customers to finally pull the trigger on Blu-ray sales.

It will take another 12 months to 18 months before the Blu-ray market "kicks into gear," according to a new study from ABI Research. Part of the problem is that prices on Blu-ray players remain high while functionality remains low.

Plenty of stand-alone Blu-ray players are selling for $400 or more, but many players on the market now do not support functions such as Blu-ray Disc Profile 2.0 (also known as BD-Live), a feature that enables users to supplement content on Blu-ray discs with additional downloaded content from the Internet. Yet movie studios such as Sony Pictures Home Entertainment are already releasing movie titles with BD-Live features embedded.

The disconnect between pricing and functionality, coupled with a depressed U.S. economy, could hold Blu-ray sales back until 2009 or beyond.

ABI says Blu-ray player pricing will have to come down to the $200 level before consumers start to replace their standard DVD players with high-def models en masse.

In 2008, PlayStation 3 gaming consoles with Blu-ray players will make up over 85 percent of the market and will continue to dominate until 2013. In the meantime, optical drive manufacturers have lowered prices on Blu-ray drives for PCs to try to gain traction, according to ABI.

News of the slow uptake isn't stopping movie studios from releasing Hollywood hits in the Blu-ray format. Paramount Pictures on May 20 is slated to roll out its first Blu-ray titles since it changed its mind in February about going exclusively with Toshiba's HD DVD. The studio's forthcoming Blu-ray titles include "Bee Movie," "Face/Off" and "Next."

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