hypnotoad8128 Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 HD-DVD Sales Sluggish to say the least in AUS. No surprise from where i'm sitting. http://www.current.com.au/news/article/GGYZSJGMAJ.html SYDNEY: The next generation Blu-ray disc format has a stranglehold on the home entertainment market, selling over 21 times more media than HD DVD in the period from last November to the end of last month. Australians have bought only 200 HD DVD discs in the five months since the format was introduced, according to GfK statistics, which bodes badly for developer Toshiba which is almost alone in manufacturing HD DVD players. The Blu-ray camp has sold 4300 discs in the same period, with backers Sony, Panasonic and Samsung receiving support from movie houses Sony Pictures, MGM, Walt Disney Pictures, Lions Gate Films, Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Brothers and Paramount. Warner Brothers and Paramount also release films in the HD DVD format along with Universal Pictures. The Blu-ray Disc Association in Australia has gained the support of JB Hi-Fi, which now sells the format exclusively. JB Hi-Fi marketing director Scott Browning said that Blu-ray players and media will soon take up 10 per cent of the linear space in JB Hi-Fi stores, and likened the high definition disc format war to that of a long distance running race. “It’s more the middle of the race and the ‘kick’ at the end that says who wins,” said Browning, referring to the support given to the Blu-ray format. Browning flagged the importance of Blu-ray as a “fundamental breakthrough” for home entertainment manufacturers, and said that Blu-ray disc has added some excitement to the category. “These guys are usually at each others throats, going behind each others backs, and now they’re banding together to support Blu-ray technology. Home entertainment has really become home excitement,” he said.
djOS Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 What a bunch of morons these "Journos" are, what they dont realise is that HD DVD owners are buying all their Movies from OS where there is: A/ a massive range B/ and at sub Aussie SD DVD prices of around $30AUD per movie! Most of us HD DVD owners have in excess of 10 Movies each in our collections!
AndrewW Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 Most of us HD DVD owners have in excess of 10 Movies each in our collections! Closer to 40 Idiot journos indeed. Andrew.
Cody Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 ^^ agreed, ive bought around 30 now - all from the US. come to think of it, im still yet to see a HD-DVD for sale in an australian store.
AndrewW Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 let's face it, Australia is nought but a pimple on the bum of HD sales, it's not like we are going to affect the outcome of the "war". Andrew.
-Bishop- Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 Comparative sales figures within Australia are never going to mean anything as long as HD-DVD stays region free, that whole article is somewhere between useless, and yet another paid advert for BD... JB are also going to be on the fast loss end of the market if they keep up with their BD only stance, once prices come down with HD-DVD players and media being cheaper, people will move on mass to other retailers for their HD needs, and JB will have to do a major Johnny Howard to get back into the game...
jokiin Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 What a bunch of morons these "Journos" are, what they dont realise is that HD DVD owners are buying all their Movies from OS where there is: GFk figures only report what is sold in Australia, if everyone is buying from overseas then don't be surprised if the format has trouble taking off here.
AndrewW Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 The Blu-ray Disc Association in Australia has gained the support of JB Hi-Fi, which now sells the format exclusively. No they don't. Andrew.
jokiin Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 No they don't.Andrew. Yeah, must have killed them after stating to the market that they wouldn't support HD DVD to have to wait a few weeks to start selling them http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/dvds/search...rchstring=HDDVD
betty boop Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 is there actually anyone outthere foolish enough to buy blu-ray discs in oz ? at the $47 JB has them at, not to mentione the obscure titles they have, you'd have to be a lunatic to buy local !
qurious Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 jokIIn is right. If it does not sell in Oz, it doesnt matter - what we privately imort is not going to build an industry in OZ. What will make the format work is critical mass in OZ with regular mum and dads buying it, which will haen with time as it dros in price and becomes more affordable, not just a small bunch of enthusiasts like us on this forum. IF BD gains more traction is OZ and more sales in OZ then there prices here will drop as manufacrturers clammer for market share in the growing market. Thats the end reason why prices drop - its about competition and Korean/Japanese/chinese pride wanting to be number 1. They need to sell more to get their shares and report back to their respective HQ's about how good they are doing. Ultimately to sell more it is all about price. It doesnt matter that sells in the US. Remember VCD is still huge in asian countried where the population is huge compared to OZ, but where is VCD in OZ - no where. Ultimately we are part of a global economy nowadays, but Oz is big enough on its own to make its own market directions. IF it wasnt then no manufacturer O/s would be suporting our small volume (in comparison to other markets) proprietary HD FTA industry. They would all say, too bad, not making HD tuners for OZ, all to hard as the market is small, just give them the SD stuff we make for EU contries. Dont dismiss the power of retailers like JB and HN to build a format or brand. If they only give us BD, BD will win. Point in Case - LG around the world is nothing (under the LG brand name), in OZ its huge, because the retailers push it becuase of the money they put in the retailers pockets. HN made LG in OZ. Toshiba (castel) has stuffed up becuase there players are too hard too find or to see demonstrated - almost no HN store has one on display nor software. If Castel went out hard and widely distributed the HDDVD player and put some marketing $$$ into retailers pockets to promote, then it would be somewhere, but they are snobby and decided to be picky on who would sell their product and hance have reciever retailer backlash who have said go away to Tosh and HDDVD. Maybe one of the reasons Toshiba has now dumped castel as a distributor and is comming in direct - they stuffed up toshibas biggest chance at creating a new market for themselves in this country. But BD, you can see Pana, Samsung and PS3 in Every HN, Domayne, Bing Lee and JB store along with some software. You cant see HDDVD anywhere.
qurious Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 Yeah, must have killed them after stating to the market that they wouldn't support HD DVD to have to wait a few weeks to start selling them http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/dvds/search...rchstring=HDDVD Notice the lead time on ordering and some are "special order" I would say they are not stocking HDDVD, but as they come from the same publishers they deal with anyway for DVD and BD they obviosuly have access to ordering it in special for you.
djOS Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 ^^ agreed, ive bought around 30 now - all from the US. come to think of it, im still yet to see a HD-DVD for sale in an australian store. I've gone into Sanity etc here in Melbourne and asked for HD DVD Movies only to be given confused looks!
djOS Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 GFk figures only report what is sold in Australia, if everyone is buying from overseas then don't be surprised if the format has trouble taking off here. See above post!
AndrewW Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 I would say they are not stocking HDDVD, but as they come from the same publishers they deal with anyway for DVD and BD they obviosuly have access to ordering it in special for you. You are using the sort of semantic defence my 2 year old would make "but you told me not to hit my sister ... I didn't hit her, I pushed her" They might not be "stocking" HD DVD on the shelves, but there are definitely selling them. Andrew.
djOS Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 is there actually anyone outthere foolish enough to buy blu-ray discs in oz ? at the $47 JB has them at, not to mentione the obscure titles they have, you'd have to be a lunatic to buy local ! The worst part is you need an Region B/2 Player to Rent BluRay Discs (eg from QuickFlix) and a second BluRay Player (Region A/1) to play your bought movies from the USA! For some strange reason this idea doesn't appeal to me although I will admit to seriously considering buying a Sony BDP-S1 from the US and an Aussie PS3.
gtr73 Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 Yep, this is definitely corporate "paid-for propaganda". Potentially quite dangerous to our freedom to choose when you think about it. Oz is truly an isolated market at the ass-end of the developed world and we all know that most of the mainstream "un-enlightened" will just buy what they're told. It's a possibility Australia could indeed end up the only market in the Western world that goes for one format while everyone else goes the other. Then they've got us all over a barrel as far as pricing and release dates go. So I for one don't wanna be forced fed anything whether it's Blu-Ray or whatever, and make my own informed decision in due course.
qurious Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 You are using the sort of semantic defence my 2 year old would make "but you told me not to hit my sister ... I didn't hit her, I pushed her"They might not be "stocking" HD DVD on the shelves, but there are definitely selling them. Andrew. You are correct, but there is a difference between "supporting" and "selling" JB are mass retailers - theyll sell anything including their souls - if you want to give them your money and they can get the goods you want........they just want to make money to keep the share holders happy so the directors keep their jobs at the next AGM The difference I guess is they support BD - stock it, sell it, invest in inventory. They just suck HD DVD for blood when someone wants to hand over their money.
jokiin Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 IF BD gains more traction is OZ and more sales in OZ then there prices here will drop as manufacrturers clammer for market share in the growing market. If the figures quoted are correct then Sony just put 20,000 BR players in the market with the PS3 sales launch, how many HD DVD players do you think are in the market, nowhere near that number I'm sure.
AndrewW Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 You are correct, but there is a difference between "supporting" and "selling" Fair point, but you've got to admit every time it's mentioned in a news article propaganda piece, it is written to sound like JB only sell BD. Andrew.
AndrewW Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 If the figures quoted are correct then Sony just put 20,000 BR players in the market with the PS3 sales launch, how many HD DVD players do you think are in the market, nowhere near that number I'm sure. That's a bloody good point. They won't release official sales figures for the PS3, but they are hinting at 20,000+ in the first weekend. And those 20,000 consoles generated sale of ... wait for it ... 3,000 BD discs (I've done a Sony here and conveniently ignored anyone who might have bought a disc to play on their standalone BD player). Damn, HD DVD better give up now Andrew.
jokiin Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 Damn, HD DVD better give up now I would like to think they won't give up as competition is healthy and will help drive pricing to suitable levels for mass market adoption, for those that are backing it in our market though it is a challenge, as everyone here is quick to point out the bulk of their titles are being purchased overseas due to poor local support (range and price)
qurious Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 If the figures quoted are correct then Sony just put 20,000 BR players in the market with the PS3 sales launch, how many HD DVD players do you think are in the market, nowhere near that number I'm sure. Correct again joKiin, and probably why JB chose to support BD Think about it They knew PS3 would go off (please - each is entitled to their intepretation off "go off") They new Castel hadnt got their act together They are a software retialer and a consoler retailer 1+1=2. Sell lots of consoles, get an install base of MIF's and people (hopefully) come back in to buy content and BD discs. JB does not sell toshiba, so they dont sell HDDVD players, so why would they want to promote HDDVD. I think JB have made their bed, and I think it goes beyond just supporting BD. Hey they are probably pissed that Toshiba was happy to launc and sell into HN and not into them, who knows, who cares. PS3 will put BD on the map, the same way Sony used Ps2 to drive DVD As you quite rightly put it - all of a sudden there are 20,000 BD players out there, and I read they are forcasting 180,000 PS3 MIF's by XMAS
momaw Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 PS3 will put BD on the map, the same way Sony used Ps2 to drive DVD The biggest urban myth of recent times was that the PS2 had any impact on the uptake of DVD whatsoever. Only believed by retards and those unable to think for themselves. Oh, and by anyone who didn't participate in the "birth" of DVD. DVD was already a success when the PS2 launched and in fact harmed their sales as there were many not wanting a DVD drive in the PS2 as they had already bought a standalone player.
AndrewW Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 I would like to think they won't give up as competition is healthy and will help drive pricing to suitable levels for mass market adoption, for those that are backing it in our market though it is a challenge, as everyone here is quick to point out the bulk of their titles are being purchased overseas due to poor local support (range and price) the was my best attempt at implying irony. If anyone thinks sales of 3,000 discs on the back of 20,000 players entering the market is a killer blow for BD then they are crazy. And this is a console with a pretty awful launch games lineup, so people would have been looking for something to do with their new new $1K sandwich toaster Andrew.
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