State of Blu-Ray is not so Grim?

[joeorc]

 

A few day's ago Post's were made on Blu-Ray's future based on this Poll:

"Harris Interactive survey shows Blu Ray interest slowing"

if the market for viability of Blu-Ray was indeed Slowing you would not have Companies investing more into Blu-Ray.

Vizio To Expand LED Assortment, Blu-ray Models

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 6/23/2009 1:57:00 PM

New York — Vizio used a press briefing here Tuesday to reveal plans to expand its offerings in LCD TVs using LED technology.

 

As for the company’s previously announced Blu-ray Disc player, Schindler said it now plans to launch its VBR100 BD-Live ready model as a Walmart exclusive in late July. It will carry a $188 selling price through the national discount retail chain. The player will support BD-Live interactive extras when an optional 1GB (or larger) USB thumb drive is connected to the player’s USB 2.0 port.

Vizio will follow up in the November/December time frame by offering the VBR110 Blu-ray player with similar features and price point for the rest of its retail customers, Schindler said.

Schindler said Vizio is also considering offering specially priced bundles of TVs and Blu-ray Disc players to maintain the strong demand for its brand, which recently reached the No. 1 LCD TV market share position in the United States, according to several first-quarter market research studies.

Meanwhile, armed with its new No. 1 status, Vizio became the subject of critical attacks from several industry parties concerned that the company apparently lacks any form of take back recycling program, and has allegedly failed to pay royalties on certain technologies used in its sets.

 

http://www.twice.com/article/CA6667032.html

 

to top it OFF

 

For Most at ESCA the Future is Blu

 

By Chris Tribbey  | Posted: 23 Jun 2009
[e-mail]

LOS ANGELES — Ashwin Navin, former president of BitTorrent, stood before a packed crowd of people from the home entertainment industry June 23 at the Entertainment Supply Chain Academy Conference and warned that Blu-ray Disc could be living on borrowed time.


His presentation showed how the CD business peaked in 2001, at the same time personal computer hard drives nearly doubled in capacity, becoming capable of holding music from 350 CDs. Then DVDs peaked in 2007, the same year an average computer could handle 350 movies, he said.


Using the same barometer, Navin said, in 2013, average computers will be able to hold 350 high-def films, potentially making disc obsolete.


Most of the other speakers at the conference were more upbeat about the format.


Chris Cookson, president of Sony Pictures Technologies, pointed out that a DVD purchased in 1997 will most likely still work in a DVD player made in 2009, while much of the electronically delivered content people purchased just a few years ago won’t work today. And Andy Setos, president of engineering for The Fox Group, said virtual content sitting on a hard drive lacks the security and permanence of physical disc.


Tony Korkunis, SVP of retail development for 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, said, “I don’t think the future [for Blu-ray] is gloomy at all.”

 

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/blu-ray-disc/-most-esca-future-blu-16159

 

AND AS FOR TOSHIBA:

 

U-Tech Media lands orders for Blu-ray movie discs from HLDS and TSST, says newspaper

 

EDN, June 24; Adam Hwang, DIGITIMES [Wednesday 24 June 2009]

U-Tech Media has landed orders for Blu-ray movie discs from Hitachi-LG Data Storage (HLDS) and Toshiba-Samsung Storage Technology (TSST), two of the world's top three ODM/OEM optical disc drive makers, according to a Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) report.

HLDS and TSST plan to offer free BD movie discs to promote their BD player sales, EDN pointed out.

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20090624PB200.html

Toshiba Chief Hints At Launching Blu-Ray Disc Ops

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

TOKYO (Nikkei)--Toshiba Corp. (6502) President Atsutoshi Nishida did not rule out the possibility of selling DVD recorders using the Blu-ray Disc format when addressing shareholders at the firm's general meeting here Wednesday.

"It makes no sense to decide not to enter the Blu-Ray market simply because we lost the DVD-format war. We cannot change the fact that we lost, but we would like to keep our options open," he said.

Toshiba pushed for global adoption of its HD-DVD format, but failed to gain sufficient support from major U.S. movie studios. This prompted the firm to pull out of its HD-DVD operations in spring 2008, declaring at that time that it would not handle Blu-ray products.

But Nishida's latest remark appears to indicate that Toshiba is considering reversing that decision in light of the significant growth in the market for these products.

(The Nikkei June 24 evening edition)

http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/e/fr/tnks/Nni20090624DA4J6246.htm

 

So with even more Support going toward Blu-Ray how is it slowing?