The big ship that is Sony is perhaps finally responding to the heavy handed steering of new management and is turning away from the rocks of corporate failure ‘ with this week signs that Blu-ray is taking the lead in the US, and indications that Sony Playstation 3 price cuts are on the way and promises of a blockbuster led launch for the device in Europe next month.
And it turns out that the risky decision to ship a Blu-ray drive with every PS3 is in fact that decision that has produced enough traction for Sony to turn the corner.
Nielsen VideoScan reports that Blu-ray entertainment disks have sold twice as many as the HD DVD disks since Christmas, and despite conceding a few months market lead to the rival technology, looks like new releases due this month will only exacerbate the lead, and end in a crashing victory for the blue laser high definition technology. Microsoft insisted on backing the HD DVD format on its Xbox 360 device, but never bundled the drives. If the trend continues, or becomes more pronounced, then within a few months Microsoft could find itself in the embarrassing position of having to offer a Blu-ray drive as an alternative, or lose momentum in video for the Xbox.
The VideoScan numbers show that Blu-ray disks have almost caught up the three month lead they ceded to HD DVD, and just a few more weeks of momentum will see it take the lead. This is despite the fact that the HD DVD players are being sold for $500 in the US, and the Blu-ray devices are still being shipped at $800 to $1,000, with the PS3 the only way of buying a cheap Blu-ray device at $499. This could mean that the dual format LG Electronics device which came out for $1,200 last month, will not find a big welcome in the US market.
The tracking for the first week of 2007 shows that for every 47 HD-DVDs sold there were 100 Blu-ray disks titles sold and a week later that it had already gone to 38 HD-DVDs to every 100 Blu-ray disks sold. Going back to November HD-DVD was shipping 100 disks for every 85 Blu-ray.
Meanwhile Sony in Europe said it would add new games and offer the first 500,000 purchasers of PS3 in Europe who actually register on the PlayStation network, a free Blu-ray movie of Casino Royale, the new James Bond film in full 1080P High Definition.
Sony executives also hinted to the press this week that it is preparing its first price cuts on the PS3 in the US, as it released figures for the fourth quarter of 2006 with profits affected by the costs associated with launching the PS3 and in particular the need to ship units by air to meet launch dates.