A brief look at The NextGen War

[Steve 3.2]

vizunary said:

Steve 3.2 said:

So while they may eventually win the high def. player battle, Sony may lose the even more lucrative video game business.

Where exactly is the gaming industry more lucrative than the home video industry? $24.3 billion(2005) vs $8.6(maybe 10 in 2007)???Especially considering that if Sony's blu-ray wins(which it will, IMNotSoHO) they get a portion of EVERY BD sold. I know that this is VERY long term, but I think that it's their strategy. Also, HD penetration is MUCH higher than alot of people here seem to think, at least in the US. I do agree with most of your points, I just had the one of my own ;)

http://www.dvdinformation.com/News/press/CES010807.htm

"U.S. HOUSEHOLD PENETRATION OF HDTVs TOPS 31 MILLION
According to figures compiled by the DEG based on data from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), retailers and manufacturers, an estimated 12.5 million HDTVs were sold to U.S. consumers in 2006. Nearly five million HDTVs sold in the fourth quarter alone.

Since launch in 1998, more than 34.5 million HDTV sets have been sold to consumers. The HDTV household provides the ideal environment to enjoy high definition media players. There are currently 31 million HDTV households which are able to make full use of high definition media players, when set up properly.

 

Thanks for the numbers. :)

While the video market may have higher sales, I wonder how much profit they generate versus video games.  It's probably still pretty impressive and more than video games, but I'm curious as a percentage and with all things being created equal like production costs, packaging, etc.  Additionally, I wonder how much Sony brought in from DVDs versus PS items.  At one time it was the video game division of Sony that was bringing in the profits and keeping the rest of the business afloat.

So in the past eight years, about a third of US households have purchased a tv capable of displaying high definition television.  "A new CEA study, HDTV: You Have the Set, But Do You Have the Content?, found that 44 percent of HDTV owners receive HD programming. The main reasons consumers stated for not receiving the programming was that it was too expensive or they were not interested."  So they own the sets, but really aren't interested in HD.  I wonder why they bought them. ;)  There are some other useful facts in this article here:

http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/15190/hd-tv-guide/