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A fair assessment for sure, but he misses one important fact:

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Audiophilander

In Reply to: RE: "Personally, I think that this was a poor business decision....." posted by oscar on January 04, 2008 at 19:20:55

The dropping of prices below $100 and free movie deals was the real incentive for Joe Public to get on board the high resolution express. Collective yawn or not, folks woke up and took notice of those jaw dropping HD-DVD player sales on Black Friday. These folks just got left high and dry by Warner's belated announcement.

Furthermore, all of those who just got stiffed by Warner's decision after buying an HD-DVD player over the holidays as well as those still sitting on the sidelines aren't going to be so easily talked into ponying up hundreds of dollars more for a Blu-ray only player anytime in the near future.

In regard to the PS3 game-boy purchasers, I still suspect that the majority of those folks aren't serious movie buffs/collectors. If they're into games, that's probably the primary function for which those units will be used.

I mean no disrespect to the article or it's author, but I see this from a slightly different perspective. Of course, I could be mistaken and everyone's mileage varies.

Cheers,
AuPh

Follow Ups:

I believe the CE manufacturers understand the pricing issues. - oscar 06:01:56 01/05/08 (3)
And the $98 firesales probably reinforced the principle: inexpensive = sales. Toshiba's advantage was they were quicker to bring economies of scales to their HD DVD players quicker than any of the BDA manufacturers. This was a temporary advantage, perhaps augmented by loss/low profit pricing strategies in an attempt to steal the market. There was a surge in Sony Blu-ray SA player sales when they dropped to $300. At the moment, there is actually price parity between the lowest priced Sonys and the Toshibas in the B&Ms I've visited recently.
CES 2008 will be interesting to see what new profile 1.1/2.0 Blu-ray players will be released. Will we see the "cheap" Funai players ? I will admit I suspect the BDA new player MSRPs are being "massaged" (i.e. increased) after the fallout from the Warner decision. CE manufacturer competition and economies of scale will probably lead to sub-$100 Blu-ray players, maybe even by Christmas 2008.
BTW, I almost bought a PS3 to watch movies, not play games. The PQ was stellar. There are quite a few PS3 owners who use it strictly for movie watching. It's arguably still the most capable Blu-ray player out there. I needed the 5.1 analog outputs so I went with a different player.

Edits: 01/05/08
- "There are quite a few PS3 owners who use it strictly for movie watching." - I'd like to see actual figures. - Audiophilander 12:21:58 01/05/08 (2)
  In other words, I'm suggesting that the vast majority of PS3 game platforms will ONLY be used for the primary function that they were designed.
  > > > "And the $98 firesales probably reinforced the principle: inexpensive = sales. Toshiba's advantage was they were quicker to bring economies of scales to their HD DVD players quicker than any of the BDA manufacturers. This was a temporary advantage, perhaps augmented by loss/low profit pricing strategies in an attempt to steal the market. There was a surge in Sony Blu-ray SA player sales when they dropped to $300. At the moment, there is actually price parity between the lowest priced Sonys and the Toshibas in the B&Ms I've visited recently." < < <
  My point is that folks who bought the new HD players over the holidays probably thought that their purchase was going to be supported in the near term (at least for a couple of years down the line) by both manufacturers and product providers. Warner's rationale and belated announcement to "go Blue" after the holiday 'fire' sales may backfire for Blu-ray, and only serve to reinforce the publics distrust.
  AuPh
  
  Edits: 01/05/08
  - About 80% use PS3 for movies - Ole Lund Christensen 15:04:22 01/05/08 (1)
    About the same percentage have a HDTV for their PS3. The rest plan to get HDTV.
    Why buy a HD game console for a normal TV?
    
    see link
    - http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/ps3-celebrates-its-first-birthday-56-million-sold/18572/?ncid=AOLGAM000500000000016 (Open in New Window)
    - Well I'll take the article at face value, but that number seems conspicuously high. - Audiophilander 22:48:04 01/05/08 (0)
      I would've been surprised at 50%, but 80% seems a trifle suspicious.
      
      Cheers,
      AuPh

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