Consumers favour HD DVD over Blu-ray due to negative perception of Sony

Andy Merrett Uncategorized
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HDTVUK have reported the findings of a US-based survey which suggests that a major factor in consumer negativity about the Blu-ray high definition optical disc format is a distrust of Sony, and annoyance from some gamers that they’re forced to adopt Blu-ray if they get a PS3.

Cymfony, a market influence analytics company, discovered that positive discussions about HD DVD were 46% higher than Blu-ray, with over twice as many post authors stating being “impressed with HD DVD” versus “impressed with Blu-ray”

The study was independent, so not sponsored by any company with a direct interest in one of the formats. Some consumer comments that came out of the survey included:

“Sony, on the other hand, has a track record of starting format wars, and losing them too. Beta, mini-disc, umd, and atrac have all been huge flops, but they just don’t seem to learn their lesson because they’re too greedy.” — phishbook.com

“There are other issues too; the sheer arrogance of Sony is incredible, and puts me off wanting to support them.” — avforums.com

“What if you don’t give a damn about watching movies on your game console? What if you prefer to buy a separate HD player? That’s the rub. Sony forces you to buy Blu-ray. MS doesn’t force you to buy HD-DVD. It’s about giving the consumer options. Bargain my arse, as a consumer I prefer options.” — forums.adventuregamers.com

Jim Nail, chief strategy & marketing officer at Cymfony, commented, “While the media and manufacturers duke it out over their format choice, our research shows that consumers are turning away from Blu-ray because of Sony’s reputation and heavy-handed launch strategy. Cymfony’s unique capabilities for analysis of traditional and consumer generated media provide corporations with an early warning system of whether their marketing or product initiatives are gaining traction in the user community.”

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Andy Merrett
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5 comments

  • I would more than certainly prefer to have the option. Many people world wide do not own a HDTV so having a PS3 will be paper weight for many. I don’t see it helping blu-ray either because the fact is most people will buy a console to play games not movies.

  • I think that game consoles are for gaming not all this other crape that doesn’t have any thing to do with video games at all and does anyone remember sony’s first attempt at blu-ray ya it sucked sony should stop being so arrogant and greedy and this is coming from a former PS fan

  • This is just silly for anyone to think that having Blu-Ray built into the PS3 won’t help the format. I now have 5 Blu-Ray movies in my collection specifically because it was built into the PS3. If they hadn’t done this, I would have 0.

    I would guess that anyone who buys a PS3 and has an HDTV will almost certainly buy one or more Blu-Ray discs. The number of XBox 360 users with HDTV who purchase the add-on to buy HD-DVD will undoubtedly be much lower.

    I see the impact of the PS3 on Blu-Ray being much greater than the impact the PS2 had on DVD. When I bought a PS2, I already had 3 DVD players in my house. I don’t think I’ve ever watched a DVD on my PS2. My PS3 is now set to become the hub of my HD home theater. My PS2 was always just a game system and nothing more. It may take some time, but I think this will indeed pay off for Sony in the long run.

  • Ah, another HD DVD spin by the Toshiba camp. You could have said the survey found Blu-ray to be favored over HD DVD and it would be equally flawed.

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