Slashdot Mirror
Erroneous HD DVD Report Gets Tongues Wagging
An anonymous reader writes "HD DVD fans learned a valuable lesson in 'don't believe everything you read' this week, after the trade publication Home Media Magazine reported that the HD DVD camp planned to release more than 20x the number of releases planned on Blu-ray through the end of 2007. The suggestion was so preposterous that even the official HD DVD Promotions Group (which has the most to gain from the spread of such misinformation) has requested a correction. 'Contacted for comment, the HD DVD Promotional Group told us that the Home Media Magazine report was incorrect. The group says it "conservatively" projects a worldwide total of 600 HD DVD releases for the entirety of 2007, and that the error in the report appeared to stem from a slide in an HD DVD powerpoint presentation that listed the cumulative number of titles by month for 2006. The Home Media Magazine report also quoted a Blu-ray spokesperson as saying that Blu-ray-affiliated studios will release a total of 43 titles in 2007. This number also appears to be incorrect, given that 160 titles have already been announced through September in the U.S. alone.'"
You're falling for the kind of skewed impression Sony wanted to achieve with PS3.
I'm not the "paste your post and refute line by line" kinda poster, but it just kinda lends itself to this format best so there we go:
* There are around 200k HD-DVD players in the US today. There are 2+ MILLION PS3's that play Blu-Ray, plus whatever standalone players Blu-Ray has managed to sell.
100% of the people who bought HD DVD players, bought them to play HD DVD movies. I can guarantee you that the vast, VAST majority of PS3 owners got it to play games.
How many standalone Blu-Ray players were sold out there? Let's compare those numbers for a more realistic trend.
Whether they'll buy enough Blu-Ray titles in the future to match HD DVD is yet to be seen.
* Blu-Ray discs, since the start of the year, have outsold HD-DVD discs by three to one margin (or higher).
Sony bundle the PS3 with Blu-Ray movies and put this in their sale figures. Again, notice the buyers didn't have much choice. They just got it with their PS3.
The trend in such a case may have nothing to do with current sales figures.
* Universal is the only major studio still wholly behind HD-DVD (The Weinstien Brothers have announced Hard Boiled will come on Blu-Ray, including the movie and a PS3 game).
How many studios (except Sony Pictures I presume) are only behind Blu-Ray?
* Funai, an HD-DVD backer just announced they will be selling a cheap Blu-Ray player later this year.
Anecdotal evidence alert. Also they just saw the match is kinda even so far, so it's normal they want to sell Blu-Ray players.
But they won't stop selling HD-DVD players either.