Sony Declares Stalemate in Blu-ray/HD DVD - Honda Forum / Acura Forum

Rev ATARI · 11-11-2007, 07:43 AM

Sony CEO Declares Stalemate in Blu-ray/HD DVD Battle

A widely circulated Associated Press report early this morning quotes Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer, speaking before a "Captains of Industry" lecture at the Cultural Center of the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan yesterday, as having declared the format war between the Blu-ray format his company champions and HD DVD a "stalemate."

Sir Howard reportedly punctuated those remarks by saying things had been going well for Blu-ray until last August, when rival Viacom unit Paramount decided to end its support for both formats and support HD DVD exclusively.

"It's a difficult fight. We were trying to win on the merits, which we were doing for a while, until Paramount changed sides," the AP quoted Sir Howard as saying. He reportedly added that he wished he had been Sony's CEO several years ago, and if time travel were at all possible he'd use it now, to have brought both sides in the format war together sooner.

The AP report is the only one to emerge from the talk, which apparently no one else had expected would generate news. As such, not much else is known yet about what Sir Howard said, nor whether the 92nd Street Y keeps recordings of its lecture series. But if the AP report is accurate, he appeared to say Sony is now picking its battles, devoting more of its energy now to shoring up its lagging PlayStation brand. Not enough information from the talk is known to decisively conclude whether he directly implied that Sony will shift attention and resources to PlayStation 3 as a game console, away from the Blu-ray player that the PS3 just happens to include.

But given recent events and the format of the talk - which was more about how one runs a business than what products Sony expects to back over the holiday season - that may very well have been what Sir Howard was referring to. Last month, Sony closed a deal to sell one of its premier chip production facilities - where the Cell BE CPU is fabricated - to Toshiba. Talk persists about whether the company may go so far as to sell its intellectual property in Cell to Toshiba or IBM, one of its partners in chip design.

And then there was the incredible news of last weekend, showing evidence that the huge price markdowns for HD DVD players may have helped it close its entire sales gap with Blu-ray in as little as 48 hours.

A corporation can't win all its battles, but it would be nice for it to win at least one or two. Sir Howard Stringer may be aware of this now, and may be transitioning into a mode where he helps his company prepare - at least on this arena - for something less than a victory.

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blackdelsol94 · 11-25-2007, 01:37 AM

Not sure if I was the only one to notice this or not...

BUT, I happened to be at the opening of my local Best Buy on Friday morning, and the HD DVD players were flying off of the shelves. I can't quite say the same for Blu-Ray players though.

tha_con · 11-29-2007, 07:34 AM

http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showthread.php?t=27817

Yea. "flying off the shelves" really made a huge difference.

blackdelsol94 · 11-29-2007, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tha_con

http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showthread.php?t=27817

Yea. "flying off the shelves" really made a huge difference.

No need to be an ass, just something I noticed and I figured it had something to do with the recent price drop.

Of the 3 other customers around me, there were 2 HD DVD players and one PS3(if you want to count that for Blu-ray).

Like I said, it was 'just what I noticed.' Have a cow, man.

tha_con · 11-30-2007, 07:28 AM

Why shouldn't I be an ass, you haven't seemed to have a problem with that lately. In a thread completely unrelated to you, you felt the need to attack me with your battle buddy REV. And you're telling me to chill out? lol, again, you're the dick, 99% of the time.

2 more customers around you buying HD DVD players is flying off the shelves huh? Neato.

Rev ATARI · 11-30-2007, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tha_con

Why shouldn't I be an ass, you haven't seemed to have a problem with that lately. In a thread completely unrelated to you, you felt the need to attack me with your battle buddy REV. And you're telling me to chill out? lol, again, you're the dick, 99% of the time.

2 more customers around you buying HD DVD players is flying off the shelves huh? Neato.

Dude leave me out of your little cock fight, comment on the article and maybe have a little fun with it but if you’re going to try to be all e-hard leave me out of it.

blackdelsol94 · 11-30-2007, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tha_con

Why shouldn't I be an ass, you haven't seemed to have a problem with that lately. In a thread completely unrelated to you, you felt the need to attack me with your battle buddy REV. And you're telling me to chill out? lol, again, you're the dick, 99% of the time.

2 more customers around you buying HD DVD players is flying off the shelves huh? Neato.

I haven't been an ass... you're obviously just bitter because I've pointed out a few glaring contradictions and double standards in your arguments. Are you really going to put that on me though? It didn't come out of my mouth, after all.

Also, that thread *really* wasn't unrelated to me. You've been feeding me BS for months about how rumble 'didn't matter' and that PS3 controllers 'didn't have connection issues' despite my claims. Whatev dude, I'm not the one being the dick, you just don't like being put on the spot.

And yes, the line extended all the way around the store and of the 3 surrounding me, 2 were purchasing HD-DVD players... coincidence? Maybe, but probably not considering when I returned to the store later to buy a home theater system they were completely sold out of all HD-DVD players under the $199 mark...

Like I said, it's whatev, you are just trying to provoke another fight and I will not take part. Have a nice day.

tienlude · 11-30-2007, 10:08 AM

u guys cant be serious, just keep it on topic, relax. no body here is goin to bomb n e body's house let alone win this argument...

Da|2kZe|2o · 11-30-2007, 03:07 PM

yeah guys, keep it peaceful. You guys are hella going off topic about this Blu-Ray/Hd-Dvd stuff. Debating is one thing, but calling each other names and what not is another.

Chill out guys