Report: PS3 Continues to Drive Blu-ray; Over 132M Homes to Own Blu-ray Players in 2012

[DragonLord]

rocketpig said:

makingmusic476 said:

DragonLord said:
I met my Dad for lunch yesterday and we sorta got into an argument because he said he was going to buy a ps3 for a blu-ray player. He was going to get a stand alone blu-ray player, but for the price, he said he would be better off with the added functionality of a ps3--internet browser, hard drive, gaming, etc.

Anyhow, I agreed with him on getting a ps3...what made me mad is that he wants to get one NOW. I'm trying to talk him into waiting until June so he can get a free copy of MGS4 (and give it to me!)

So we argued...lol, he wants to get one now, I want him to wait.

My point is, my Dad was one of the last people in the world that I would expect to buy a ps3, but he's going to because of blu-ray. It will keep growing.

The ps3 is doing it's part to bring in non-gamers (though not nearly to the extent of the Wii). Many people on AVS bought a ps3 simply because it was the best Blu-Ray player on the market for over a year (and arguably still is), and many have now picked up a game or two here and there when they wouldn't have previously.

It's great that people are picking up PS3s solely for Blu-ray functionality, but does that help Sony much now that the HD format battle is over?

A few things:

1. These early adopters might or might not buy any games.
2. The Blu-ray selection is still, let me put it gently, limited. If blockbusters of yore were being released frequently, Sony would have an easier time selling more movies and make more money.
3. The PS3 is still either sold at a small loss, is breaking even, or is making a small amount. Either way, it's pretty much a stalemate as far as profits are concerned.
4. By the time the movie selection is improved enough to start generating real sales numbers (and profit), standalone players will surely be cheaper than a PS3.
5. If someone is an early adopter/audiophile, they will probably buy another BD player at this point and it will be a standalone unit.

So, Sony used the PS3 to trojan horse the BD format. It worked. Good for them. But unless these people start buying games or loads of movies before standalone players drop below the price of a PS3, Sony either lost money on the PS3 sale or broke even on the deal. It was a ballsy move to win the format war but as far as the PS3 is concerned (and its game selection, third developer support, and extra revenue needed from licensing), this isn't a particularly good situation for Sony to be in.

Sony can definitely make money off the people that buy ps3's for blu-ray only.

Hell, I own over 100 blu-ray movies already--I'm sure Sony made a few nickles off that.

My father will probably own a much larger blu-ray collection than me since he has the expendable income and is buying it solely for blu-rays.

Sony does make money off blu-ray movies---the reason they pushed it so hard.

I'm just saying that Sony would rather have my dad (and others) buy a ps3 for blu-ray movies only than not buy one at all.  There is no other way to spin it--a sale is a sale....Sony doesn't care if they make the $$$ off of games or blu-ray movies, just so they make it when the Income Statement goes public.   Sure they make more money off a game, but they're happy with movie sales too...like I said, something is better than nothing.

 http://www.hollywoodinhidef.com/blog_detail.php?id=187

Blu-ray sold a total of 9 million disc last year....it's already sold 3 million this year.

And sales are STARTING to improve.