Blu-ray Titles Outsell DVD Counterparts on Amazon

[Woochifer]

I knew this was going to happen, and I am glad it has. We now have a format that bit for bit matches the audio quality of the audio master tapes, and looks as close to the film printmaster as video allows, and we are getting it all in our homes for a average price of about $20.

Which is why I find the download/streaming fanboys in the tech press so puzzling. They are so bent against disc media, that they'd rather stick with highly compressed picture quality, sub-DD/DTS quality audio, and deal with all the DRM and other hassles with downloaded/streaming media just for the "convenience" of having everything streamed.

There are some in Hollywood (the Hollywood press) who believe that based on this, the prices of Blu ray hardware and software are going to be commoditized too quickly, which will erode profits sooner than DVD has. I don't believe this. The goal is to sell as many disc as you can when you can - and based on that goal you must price your product competitive, and now at least the retailers have. No doubt, prices will go back up - but they won't be nearly as high as they once were, and I think that is good for what most of the studios desire...sell HD on disc.

Maintaining high margins makes sense for a new media format that's moving less than 1% of the total market. But, if you got Blu-ray now ramping up the growth trend way above 100% year-to-year growth, it makes no sense to try and pull it all back. Go back to the higher price points, and that will blunt the momentum that Blu-ray now has. Better to hit the pedal to the metal. Sheer volume will more than make up for any erosion in the margins.