News: Sony CEO sees 'stalemate' in disc fight

[hdfan90]

This is a far cry from "HD DVD will be dead within months", and he laments not uniting as a single standard, "mostly a matter of prestige who wins in the end." Could it be they see the writing on the wall already?

Just hitting the web via AP, dated 11/09/2007

NEW YORK (AP) - The head of Sony Corp., Howard Stringer, said Thursday that the Blu-ray disc format the company has developed as the successor to the DVD is in a 'stalemate' with the competing HD DVD format, chiefly backed by Toshiba Corp. and Microsoft Corp.

'It's a difficult fight,' said Stringer, speaking at the 92nd Street Y cultural center in Manhattan.

Toshiba has been selling its players for as low as $200 heading into the holiday season, while Blu-ray players cost more than twice as much. The HD DVD camp also scored a significant win in August, when it induced Paramount Pictures to drop most of its support for Blu-ray and put out high-definition movies exclusively on HD DVD.

'We were trying to win on the merits, which we were doing for a while, until Paramount changed sides,' Stringer said.

At the same time, he played down the importance of the battle, saying it was mostly a matter of prestige whose format wins out in the end.

'It doesn't mean as much as all that,' Stringer said. He added that he believed there was an opportunity of uniting the two camps under one format before he became CEO, and he wishes he could travel back in time to make that happen.

Stringer was more upbeat about the PlayStation (Nachrichten) 3, the game console that has so far had disappointing sales compared to the rival Nintendo Wii.

The CEO said the console is the best-selling console in Europe after a price cut three weeks ago. In the U.S., a recent price cut has doubled sales.

'We are coming back up again,' Stringer said. The company aims to sell 10 million PS3s by the end of its fiscal year in March. Nintendo has already sold 13.2 million Wiis.

[WallyWest]

Link to add proof
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i...kRhRAD8SPU1BG0

[hdfan90]

Thanks... that was my first post and I need 10 under my belt before I can include URLs. Just 8 to go now!

[HiDeFJunKie]

That doesn't sound anything like the BDA in the past. Are they possibly admitting defeat to Toshiba? It sure doesn't sound like they have anything to compete with the A2/A3s.

[kamiller42]

Looks like someone is going to lose their Christmas bonus.

He is right in that there has not been any major movements in either direction. It's been back and forth, Blu-ray holding the lead at all times.

[hdfan90]

This guy seems to have some professionalism and respect for the competition, unlike every other BDA spokesperson I have ever seen quoted.

[g.k.]

Interesting, it's nice to hear a little humility from them.

[Solstice X]

It makes sense, at this point only two things can really happen. Either the market moves to dual format players or suffer the fate of DVD-A and SACD.

[CouchPotato]

There's a reason why he's Sir Howard Stringer.

[kalim1998]

I don't see a single point there where he says it is a "stalemate"....

Obviously, he does not like the Paramount change, but Blu-ray has easily beaten HD-DVD where it counts every week this year - SALES of titles, and it looks to continue that into the foreseeable future unless Warner suddenly changes sides, at which point it IS a stalemate.

[Geonosis]

Major shift in statement, just a few weeks ago it was the "BD will win" rhetoric, now this? HD DVD has proven to be a viable and strong competitor. The BDA should rescind their intent to have BD become the successor format, the studios should announce HD DVD support and BD can become another Sony only format, mainly for PS3. The DVD Forum named HD DVD the true successor to DVD, that's how it should be.

[alfbinet]

Originally Posted by g.k.

Interesting, it's nice to hear a little humility from them.

And that is a First. I thought HD DVD dead in 2005, at least by March 2007, and Bill Hunt said at his web September 2007. HD DVD has been declared dead so many times I don't know what to believe anymore. And the beauty of it is there are sooooooo many threads stating the fact, with names. Priceless. See below.

[Hex]

:lol didn't take long for people trying to spin this.
Admitting defeat?
Are you f'ing serious?
I know that Toshiba has been hitting Blu with all of those horrible winning weeks and all but come now.

See, this is why all press releases that people see are full of PR and political bullshit and that is because it is all too many people understand.
Someone tries to just talk candidly and the spin teams are all over it.
I suppose if you can not win in reality , you have to try and win in sugar plum fantasy land.

[hdfan90]

Originally Posted by kalim1998

I don't see a single point there where he says it is a "stalemate"....

Obviously, he does not like the Paramount change, but Blu-ray has easily beaten HD-DVD where it counts every week this year - SALES of titles, and it looks to continue that into the foreseeable future unless Warner suddenly changes sides, at which point it IS a stalemate.

Quoted in the first paragraph: The head of Sony Corp., Howard Stringer, said Thursday that the Blu-ray disc format the company has developed as the successor to the DVD is in a 'stalemate' with the competing HD DVD format

[kamiller42]

Originally Posted by kalim1998

I don't see a single point there where he says it is a "stalemate"....

Yes. It's annoying that they quote a word and not the sentence. Is this the way the reporter is saying he effectively says it's a "stalemate," but didn't actually use that word? Hard to tell without a complete quote. Not good reporting.