Thursday, July 27, 2006
Are HD DVD and Blu-ray Headed for a Stalemate?
Posted by Chris Gohlke in "CONTENT" @ 05:00 AM
"Remember last November when Netflix CFO Barry McCarthy declared Blu-ray the winner, then Netflix announced they would carry both formats? Eight months later and things are a bit different in the video rental giants' view. During their Q2 Earnings Conference Call yesterday, CEO Reed Hastings stated that they now view the format war as an unwinnable one. In their view, the best thing that can happen now would be for all studios currently declared exclusive on either side to release films on both formats starting early next year, ending the war and restoring consumer confidence in both camps. That is certainly a better alternative than going the way of DVD Audio and SACD, which all sides risk with the situation as it is. It's also interesting to see the sudden boost of confidence in HD DVD, Blu-ray's shaky, slow launch may be costing them some of their most important allies in getting discs and players to consumers."
If you are reading this site, you are probably way more in the know than the average consumer. While we can debate the merits of each format, it is the average consumer that will end up determining the winner. Even with the Blu-ray launch issues, they seem to be doing more to get mind share. I've noted ads for Blu-ray disks both on TV and in the paper and of course the ultimate sign was that my wife asked me what Blu-ray was the other day.
If you are reading this site, you are probably way more in the know than the average consumer. While we can debate the merits of each format, it is the average consumer that will end up determining the winner. Even with the Blu-ray launch issues, they seem to be doing more to get mind share. I've noted ads for Blu-ray disks both on TV and in the paper and of course the ultimate sign was that my wife asked me what Blu-ray was the other day.
