Despite new offerings from companies like Panasonic and LG, Sony captured 60% of Blu-ray stand-alone player sales for the week ending November 24th (which includes Black Friday sales data). Coming in second was Samsung with 37% followed by Panasonic with 5% of total sales.
Both Panasonic and Samsung have made great strides in the past few weeks in order to boost their share of the market. Samsung has heavily discounted their BD-P1400 player (which can now be found for under $300) while Panasonic has
introduced the first BD Profile v1.1 player, the DMP-BD30, which is able to
playback picture-in-picture extras.
2008 will likely change that. I predict that if BR secures WB as an exclusive backer Panasonic, SHARP, Phillips, Samsung, and the rest of the big players will significantly improve their market share. It is a matter of launching 1.1 players at a strategic time...which is upcoming.
The Sony BDP-S300 is now $294 on Amazon (the one with Spiderman 3) and $299 at Best Buy (online and their ad shows $100 off the $399 in stores also). I'll check Costco later, but figure it will probably be lowered there too.
@alkalinesi
I don’t think it will deter Panny/Samsung from blu-ray; it’s nothing like Onkyo making that hd-dvd player, selling something like 11 total before pulling the plug; there are still a lot of non-Sony players selling. The sony players (standalone and PS3) are in places like walmart, whereas other blu-ray manufacturers are not; it makes a big difference.
I don’t think its Sony's goal to sell the players cheap and push out the supporting manufacturers; Sony want's the licensing!
see this HD DVD??
the price won't matter. Sony is always overpriced, but the quality is top. Toshiba? not so much. Customers are willing to pay more for a quality product.
The reason why sony's stuff now is so expensive is because of the fact that its top notch and besides lowering the prices wont do any good. if i am going to buy something i know will last me at least 10 years then i will spend whatever amount it is instead of going with hd-dvd where i buy it and then it breaks down after about a year or 2
The math is a little fuzzy on this one: 60 + 37 + 5 is 102. Blu-ray is good but not beyond traditional
math. The Samsung number should be 32%. From the article, it looks like the 37% is the
percentage of Blu-ray players to 62% HD-DVD.
I'd like to see some high end 2.0 players from Panasonic, Marantz & Denon in 2008. I just want something that's finished spec with all the bells and whistles.
Sony is an attractive brand name, generally associated with quality products (specially TVs and Camcorders). The reason is did so well imho is also that there were little differences if any in the pricing of products.
I wonder why (until the end of Q4) most BR players were between $399 and $499... I was expecting Samsung and LG to be much more agressive on prices.
No matter, the competition has now started, and HD DVD will feel the heat (prolly already does ).
sony knows how to market a superb product because their dedicated to the consumer, and that's why blu-ray is the success that it is. hd-dvd doesn't stand a chance.
I just got a Panasonic BLU-Ray play and I think it is an awsome machine. For fast loading times the PS3 is King thoe. Sony and Panasonic knows how to make quality pruducts. As for the HD Dud player that is in my house all it likes to do is stutter and that is why I gave up on HD Dud.HD DuD gives me headaches Blu-Ray does not. And I sure hope Warner does not drop Blu-Ray for HD DUD.
Man, Sony is such a great company. Most people buy a Sony brand HDTV and now Blu-ray player. It's incredible. Not to mention PS3, a gaming console and a blu-ray player. Sony is all over the place lol.
I just got the new Panasonic DMP-BD30 and I love it.The salesmen said it loaded alot faster than the Sony and it matches my other equipment.One thing why the Sony is selling more is it is cheaper,as is the Samsung.Sony is still #2 behind Matshushita(parent company of Panasonic.I will stick with Panasonic.
Sony is really pushing this format ahead at full steam! I am also glad to hear the others, although
behind in market share, are working at gaining sales through advanced features and lower prices!
Competition works!
think about u buy a ps3 u have a blu ray player not to mention if u have sony there going to have the updates first usually which is always a good thing
Despite new offerings from companies like Panasonic and LG, Sony captured 60% of Blu-ray stand-alone player sales for the week ending November 24th (which includes Black Friday sales data). Coming in second was Samsung with 37% followed by Panasonic with 5% of total sales.
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