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Blu-ray's Hardware Woes Stacking Up

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the hard-to-find-a-primary-color dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The bad news just keeps on coming for Blu-ray. First, Sony halved its U.S./Japanese launch shipments of its Blu-ray powered PlayStation 3, blaming a shortage of blue lasers. Then, in the last two weeks, both Sony and Pioneer delayed the releases of their new Blu-ray players, refusing to cite reasons. And this week, at Blu-ray backer LG's annual dealer show, a previously announced LG Blu-ray player was nowhere to be found. LG product development director Tim Alessi had this to say: 'We will provide an announcement when the time is right.'"

7 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. PS2 DVD vs PS3 Blu-Ray by HappySqurriel · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The difference between the PS2's DVD drive and the PS3's Blu-Ray drive is that when the PS2 was released DVD players had been on the market for a full 3 years.

    I could be wrong, but it seems like including Blu-Ray may be the biggest mistake that Sony made on the PS3; it will increase the cost of the PS3, reduce the supply, and has so little content for it that it probably will not increase sales. If the PS3 was to be released in Q4 of 2008 Blu-Ray would have probably been an amazing addition, but in Q4 of 2006 it seems like a massive disaster.

    1. Re:PS2 DVD vs PS3 Blu-Ray by elrous0 · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Blu-Ray may be the biggest mistake that Sony made on the PS3

      I'm a big supporter of the 360, but I have to admit that the Blu-ray drive might actually prove to be a big advantage to Sony in the long run. It makes the PS3 much more future-proof than the 360, which is already hitting the wall on game storage space. Along with the decision to include a hard drive STANDARD (MS's biggest bonehead move with the 360 was actually taking a step BACKWARDS with the tard box), this could prove to ultimately be a very smart move.

      -Eric

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    2. Re:PS2 DVD vs PS3 Blu-Ray by Fozzyuw · · Score: 3, Insightful
      I could be wrong, but it seems like including Blu-Ray may be the biggest mistake that Sony made on the PS3;

      Sony is either smart or very dumb. The jury is still out (despite what most /. members think, like myself).

      However, we need to look at it like this... what would have happened if Sony did NOT put blu-ray in their PS3? HD-DVD would have garnered a large early lead against Sony and probably would have killed of Blu-Ray. It's just one big obvious strategy. Sure, the gamers are largely unhappy about it, due to the increase in cost, but if they have a Blu-Ray on their game system (whether they want it or not), and they start to build a Blu-Ray DVD collection, they're more likely to purchase a Blu-Ray stand-alone since they already started a Blu-Ray collection.

      It was more of a do or die strategy. The PS3 was the only thing they could guarantee that their technology would get penetration. Lets face it, when it comes to spending money, it's only gamers who would justify $600 for a video game system, just like they spend $400 for the latest video card for their PC or buy/build a $4,000 gaming rig. That doesn't mean YOU (or more appropriately MYSELF) would spend that much on a brand new system, but that's not to say there isn't people out there that would.

      I just talked to a friend of mine who waited in line at Toy-R-Us for their PS3 system. While doing so, he found a famous Green Bay Packers Wide Receiver (American Football) trying to buy their PS3 system off them for $100 extra. He ran into the same guy later at the Casino and found out he bribed a Circuit City employee to put his name at the top of the Pre-order list.

      This same friend, who purchased 2 PS3 (he went with his cousin), are doing the whole E-Bay thing, where the pre-orders are selling for upwards of $3,000 now. So, the point is, Sony will sell their PS3's. Did they hurt their PlayStation franchise to push their Blu-Ray player? Absolutely. Will their PS3 survive? Without a doubt. Will it loose market share? No question about it, at least for the short term. Does this put Sony's Blu-Ray in a competitive position to become the 'next' format. Yes, without doing this, it would not have been as likely to succeed. In this way, they didn't have much choice. If Blu-Ray succeeds, that means Sony will be making enormous profits for decades. If the PS3 loose a large market share, it will still retain some and it can still gain ground in the future with huge price drops. This isn't a PS3 strategy. This is a Blu-Ray strategy.

      I'm not planning on buying one, at least not for probably 3-4 years. I only bought a PS2 a month ago. =P

      Cheers,
      Fozzy

      --
      "The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth." ~1984 George Orwell
    3. Re:PS2 DVD vs PS3 Blu-Ray by default+luser · · Score: 2, Informative

      Exactly, there was no other consortum competing with DVD.

      There was competition from DIVX. However, once people realized that you could only buy DIVX players and movies at Circuit City, and that you had to pay every time you wanted to watch one, and that you couldn't play your "gold" unlocked discs in any other player except your own, and that DIVX movies didn't come with extra features, etc - people caught on quick.

      The problem with HD-DVD versus Blu-Ray is two-fold:

      The first issue is that both standards are equally compelling. Each have major studio support, and each can use modern codecs and sizeable capacity to deliver much improved image quality. On the other hand, both standards are plagued by a lack of platforms - while the $500-1000 introduction DVD players looked incredible even on regular TVs of the time, $500-1000 introduction HD disc players only look "better" on HDTVs (%20 or market), and they really only look "incredible" by comparison on 1080p screens (less than %1 of market).

      --

      Man is the animal that laughs.
      And occasionally whores for Karma.

  2. Sounds familiar... by ExE122 · · Score: 4, Funny
    First, Sony halved its U.S./Japanese launch shipments of its Blu-ray powered PlayStation 3, blaming a shortage of blue lasers.
    Didn't Pink Floyd once cancel one of their shows for the same reason?
    --
    Capitalism: When it uses the carrot, it's called democracy. When it uses the stick, it's called fascism.
  3. No Wonder They're Low on Blue Lasers... by Tickenest · · Score: 3, Funny

    The Cheat Commandos have it covered.

    --
    This is the NFL, which stands for "Not For Long" if you keep making those bulls*** calls.
  4. Re:no no no.. by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Better yet, don't announce it until you can really make it. Sony hasn't learned anything. They are not using a "it won't get to market until it is done" approach here because they are gentlemen. What is happening, is that Sony is suffering from their long-time habit of announcing products that are FAR from being complete.

    I don't think you know what you're talking about. I mean, your description of what sony is doing is correct but I think your analysis of why they are doing it is way off.

    You say "Sony hasn't learned anything". I say you're insane. They learned a lot. They learned that when they announced the PS2 over a year in advance with completely bullshit specs, two things happened. One, their most important competition was destroyed, their wells poisoned, and their ground sown with salt. Two, shitloads of people bought the PS2 anyway even though it was maybe 10% as powerful as they claimed it would be.

    Sony knows exactly what they are doing. The sad thing is that consumers are such sheep that it will probably work again, simply because they're doing it in a slightly different space in the market.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"