Universal heading to Blu-ray?
- Posted July 16th, 2007 by
- 1,072 views
- 1 Comments
Bluray sales could be persuading the Universal to a Blu-ray business.
Universal has shown an amazing effort to stay HD-DVD exclusive and backs the strategy in every way they can. However the time may have finally come that Universal starts to sell Blu-ray HD movies.
Sales of Blu-ray and several exclusive contracts over the recent months for Blu ray have driven many consumers to use the format, all this has gotten into Universals head. It was just in May that Universal's Ken Graffeo pledged the companies full commitment behind the HD-DVD format citing pricing and interactivity advantages that made the format better than Blu ray.
In almost ever HD format war article signs are showing the clear success Blu-ray has been having since launch, but there are certain things consumers haven’t noticed. For one Toshiba claims nearly 70 percent of the European market share, and second HD-DVD is making a comeback selling more titles in Q2 of 2007.
Universal in no way has to abandon the HD-DVD format to sell Blu ray but the company says the support of both formats could be to great to accomplish at this point. Which could hint at the plans to switch over when HD format sells are greater.
"We're still at such an early stage that it's hard to gauge how [selling Blu-ray] would have any impact," Graffeo says. "When you sell 6 million standard-definition units of a title, and you're selling only about 70,000 in hi-def, it's hard to say, 'Wow, look at what we're leaving on the table."
If Universal begins to publish on Blu-ray, this means that PlayStation 3 owners could be soon watching such titles as The Bourne Identity, Hot Fuzz, and Children of Men.
Source: HDTV UK
Comments
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BobbyB09
- 7:58am BST - September 20th, 2007
- 1
So where, exactly, are you getting information about Universal selling Blu-Ray? Talk about a nonsensicle article with absolutely no basis! Yet another FUD-filled, desperate Blu-Ray pipe dream.
Why would Universal Studios start releasing on Blu-Ray NOW, following the announcement by Paramount / Dreamworks dumping Blu-Ray? If anything, this recent change, along with the debut of the 3rd generation Toshibas and the sub-$200 Ventura HD DVD player, would only make Universal more steadfast in their exclusive position. The most recent Videoscan numbers show HD DVD gaining noticeable market share, having their best weekly showings in software sales since 2006 (56/44% and 60/40%, respectively). To think that Universal would start releasing Blu-Ray now is crazy.
Some fan-boys don't seem to grasp the fact that studios are not making money on HD -- they are LOSING it! Does anyone think Disney is making a profit on their BD efforts, with pathetic numbers for even their biggest titles? What about Sony? They've lost BILLIONS on this format so far with little to show for it. Uni. Paramount & Dreamworks (along with all other studio execs) know that the most economical format is HD DVD from many, many perspectives. Disc authoring is cheaper, manufacturing is cheaper, the software for the authoring procedure is easier to use for HD DVD, the specs are finalized -- it is and was always a less expensive format to create than Blu-Ray, and many folks knew that all along. Once it was proven that there were no quality advantages for BD, there simply is no reason to persue the format. If Sony hadn't bought up the bulk of the studio support with all their promises and subsidies, this war would have been over before it started.
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