What do you think about Sony's CEO statment

[HDAlien]

Stringer's comments sound a lot like a CEO who either: a) is trying to do damage control on poor financial results, or b) is trying to lower peoples' expectations as well as the perceived importance of the segment/war because he has advance knowledge of another piece of bad news (i.e., another studio going HD DVD).

CEOs don't normally make "off the cuff" or "innocent" comments -- if they do, they're usually not CEOs for very long. What are CEOs obsessed with? Stock price. Who (as a group) have the biggest influence on stock prices? Wall Street Analysts. So, when CEOs talk, they're typically talking to Analysts, providing "guidance". Stringer's comments sound a LOT like a CEO who is trying to steer Analysts away from the idea that BD is important to Sony.

I agree with you, I think they expect more bad news to come, and he wants to let them know that BD is not that important to Sony

[HiDeFJunKie]

It CERTAINLY doesn't mean he thinks Sony will lose. All he said is that it's a difficult fight....well yeah, we all know that. He's just restating the obvious.

Paramount was a big blow, not only to Blu-ray, but to HDM in general. HD DVD will never win, it's practically impossible and most in the industry understand that. And even if they did, that would be a bad thing because the technology is inferior. No, I'm not going to pull out my list again because then it will just turn into a tit for tat.

Nobody knows what will happen at this point, that is, how much market share HD DVD can hold onto. I think we're all hoping that Christmas will tell us one way or the other, but then again we all thought last Christmas would do that.

It seems increasingly obvious that it's going to stay 60/40, with HD DVD possibly creeping up to 50% next year. Unless Blu-ray completely screws up by say, letting another studio go HD DVD exclusive, I don't see things changing.

The numbers are so small right now that an influx of A2 and A3 owners could easily turn the Neilsen statistics upside-down by January if Toshiba has enough inventory. Claiming that HDDVD will never win is quite a bold statement when even Stringer is will to consider a situation where HDDVD is victorious and I'm pretty sure he knows whats going on in the industry more than you do.

[HiDeFJunKie]

There are two best care scenerios as far as I can tell at the moment:

1) HD DVD is clearly seen as the loser by all involved. Either disc sales dry up, or either Universal goes neutral or WB goes Blu-ray exclusive. Either of those things would be a killing stroke.

2) Blu-ray and HD DVD somehow come together to form a new format. I think there's a better chance of having a manned mission to Mars in the next 20 years, but it's one solution. Of course all of us would be SOL, but at least we'd have a unified format.

Barring either of those things, consumers will remain apathetic to either and although market share will continue to grow for both formats, neither will ever cross the j6p barrier. In this scenerio, a convenient and cheap pay-per-view or downloading service will come in and clean house. That would be bad for all of us because quality would probably not be as good, features would go the way of the dodo, and DRM would be incredibly tight.

Here's another scenario: Toshiba wipes its nose with the BDA the next 8 weeks and establishes an userbase of close to 1 million. Warner goes RED, and in light of Stringer's comments, Fox and Disney go neutral. In fact, because Stringer seems content to lose this war, even Sony goes neutral. End of War. Game, Set, and Match: HD DVD.

[Indy_aka_Rex]

Stringer has always been a grounded man when it comes to his own opinion on matters. This doesn't mean much for Blu-Ray, but I could see it as Sony getting in talks again with Toshiba and/or MS to merge the formats and get it done with - or worse for HD-DVD: Sony getting Warner to go Blu-Ray by paying them off.

But within the format war in terms of how Blu-Ray is doing? There's nothing to worry about at the moment and for the foreseeable future.

[Xyz123]

To me, All his statement means is he realizes that it may have been an error in judgement in the past for not talking seriously about a unified format. Woulda coulda shoulda..

He also admitted (unlike some statements I've seen various places) he realizes that it isn't cut and dry to end the format war.

This is my interpretation as well, except I would substitute "serious enough" for "seriously". There were talks.

[redfirebird2008]

HiDeFJunKie,

I disagree with you on the Nielsen numbers. I don't think much can be done right now for HD DVD no matter how many players are sold. Disney is the biggest factor. They have Pixar and Pirates, two GIGANTIC pop culture phenomenons and exactly the kinds of movies that people enjoy owning even if they claim they don't like them (Pirates 2 is a great example...bad reception amongst audiences and critics, yet huge home video sales). I think Disney is currently saving BDA from potentially seeing some kind of flip-flop on disc sales. Disney on BDA provides the goods and it will continue for a while. If Disney was neutral then I'd say there was a chance at HD DVD taking the lead in software sales. But it's not neutral, so for the short term at the very least, Blu-ray will continue leading mainly due to the sheer volume of potential users with the PS3 and the Pixar/Pirates combination.

[M. Bison]

Disney for me doesn't do anything. I will never buy a Disney film on Highdefiniton. Warner Bros is where it's at. I go where ever The Dark Knight goes.

[HiDeFJunKie]

HiDeFJunKie,

I disagree with you on the Nielsen numbers. I don't think much can be done right now for HD DVD no matter how many players are sold. Disney is the biggest factor. They have Pixar and Pirates, two GIGANTIC pop culture phenomenons and exactly the kinds of movies that people enjoy owning even if they claim they don't like them (Pirates 2 is a great example...bad reception amongst audiences and critics, yet huge home video sales). I think Disney is currently saving BDA from potentially seeing some kind of flip-flop on disc sales. Disney on BDA provides the goods and it will continue for a while. If Disney was neutral then I'd say there was a chance at HD DVD taking the lead in software sales. But it's not neutral, so for the short term at the very least, Blu-ray will continue leading mainly due to the sheer volume of potential users with the PS3 and the Pixar/Pirates combination.

I completely agree with you. With Ratatoulie and POTC3 I have no doubt that Blu will win the Neilson numbers for the rest of the year. But come next year, its a whole different ballgame. With an established userbase hungry for titles, HD DVD will be ahead in the Neison statistics by mid January.

[redfirebird2008]

Disney for me doesn't do anything. I will never buy a Disney film on Highdefiniton. Warner Bros is where it's at. I go where ever The Dark Knight goes.

Dude, I'm with ya there. I do not own a Blu-ray player, although I respect it and think it's a great format. But I'm a poor college student and the recent $200 + 10 free discs at Best Buy for the A3 was too good of a deal to pass up. So I was able to avoid paying for Batman Begins again, as well as not paying for The Departed or 300 again. Ha, all three of those are Warner titles. At any rate, I agree. Batman Begins was the #1 factor I jumped into HD so early and also why I chose HD DVD for the short term at least. Once I'm out of college and making some good/decent money, I will likely go neutral. I will NEVER buy a PS3 though. You can count on that. I have a XBox 360 for gaming (and no, I'm not a Halo junkie...I don't even own Halo 3; I mainly play sports games, two of my only non-sports games are Sonic The Hedgehog and The Godfather) and I don't think a HD player alone is worth $400 so I will wait till Blu-ray prices drop, or perhaps I'll be making enough money that I won't give a shit and I'll just buy a Samsung or something for $350-400.

[M. Bison]

Dude, I'm with ya there. I do not own a Blu-ray player, although I respect it and think it's a great format. But I'm a poor college student and the recent $200 + 10 free discs at Best Buy for the A3 was too good of a deal to pass up. So I was able to avoid paying for Batman Begins again, as well as not paying for The Departed or 300 again. Ha, all three of those are Warner titles. At any rate, I agree. Batman Begins was the #1 factor I jumped into HD so early and also why I chose HD DVD for the short term at least. Once I'm out of college and making some good/decent money, I will likely go neutral. I will NEVER buy a PS3 though. You can count on that. I have a XBox 360 for gaming (and no, I'm not a Halo junkie...I don't even own Halo 3; I mainly play sports games, two of my only non-sports games are Sonic The Hedgehog and The Godfather) and I don't think a HD player alone is worth $400 so I will wait till Blu-ray prices drop, or perhaps I'll be making enough money that I won't give a shit and I'll just buy a Samsung or something for $350-400.

I bought a PS3 just to have all three consoles. I am not huge on Blu-Ray releases or Blu-Ray at all a matter of a fact. I don't like what Sony is doing with their console or their format and I am really enjoying what is coming out of Microsoft lately. I guess you can say I prefer HD DVD more then Blu-Ray. With Star Trek, Iron Man, Hulk coming out exclusively to HD DVD how can you go wrong. I always buy Warner titles on HD DVD instead of Blu-Ray so nothing much will change it it does go exclusive for HD. It will have my mind set that Blu-Ray is almost finished and I might be weary about continuing to by movies for the format.

[redfirebird2008]

Man I can't wait to see TDK in IMAX. That will be the best frickin' theater experience ever I hope (assuming the movie kicks ass, which all signs point to the notion that it WILL indeed kick all sorts of tail). I also cannot wait for it to come out on HD home video. That movie is gonna look awesome both in IMAX and in high def on home video.

Speaking of those Paramount things you listed, I cannot wait for Zodiac to come out on HD DVD. I was pissed off with the standard DVD release. Did you know one of the previews on it was an advertisement bragging about a 2-disc pimped out version coming in 2008? Meanwhile, the one I had just bought was as bare bones as you'll find. I'll get the HD DVD, hopefully with plenty of extra content and of course upgraded resolution and then give my DVD copy to my sister just like I did with Batman Begins and The Departed. I am also looking forward to Iron Man. That movie looks like it will be a fun ride and along with Indiana Jones, it should help spell my impatience waiting until July for The Dark Knight. It's also possible that I'll check out the new Mummy movie. I'm sure it'll get terrible reviews, but I enjoyed the first two a lot other than a few minor problems in Returns. It's exactly the type of movie to watch on the big screen: loud action and good score/soundtrack.

[M. Bison]

Man I can't wait to see TDK in IMAX. That will be the best frickin' theater experience ever I hope (assuming the movie kicks ass, which all signs point to the notion that it WILL indeed kick all sorts of tail). I also cannot wait for it to come out on HD home video. That movie is gonna look awesome both in IMAX and in high def on home video.

Speaking of those Paramount things you listed, I cannot wait for Zodiac to come out on HD DVD. I was pissed off with the standard DVD release. Did you know one of the previews on it was an advertisement bragging about a 2-disc pimped out version coming in 2008? Meanwhile, the one I had just bought was as bare bones as you'll find. I'll get the HD DVD, hopefully with plenty of extra content and of course upgraded resolution and then give my DVD copy to my sister just like I did with Batman Begins and The Departed. I am also looking forward to Iron Man. That movie looks like it will be a fun ride and along with Indiana Jones, it should help spell my impatience waiting until July for The Dark Knight. It's also possible that I'll check out the new Mummy movie. I'm sure it'll get terrible reviews, but I enjoyed the first two a lot other than a few minor problems in Returns. It's exactly the type of movie to watch on the big screen: loud action and good score/soundtrack.

I actually rented Zodiac from Netflix and loved it. I will buy it for HD DVD the day it comes out no doubt. Iron Man and Hulk are two movies that make me smile when I think of them on HD DVD, it's going to be pure eye candy. I own The Mummy and Mummy returns on HD DVD and they are great, I can't wait for the third installment. HD DVD does look to have some sure fire hits on the way. If I was just an HD DVD owner I would take Paramount over Disney any day of the week.

[redfirebird2008]

I actually rented Zodiac from Netflix and loved it. I will buy it for HD DVD the day it comes out no doubt. Iron Man and Hulk are two movies that make me smile when I think of them on HD DVD, it's going to be pure eye candy. I own The Mummy and Mummy returns on HD DVD and they are great, I can't wait for the third installment. HD DVD does look to have some sure fire hits on the way. If I was just an HD DVD owner I would take Paramount over Disney any day of the week.

I probably should get the Mummy and Mummy Returns in HD at some point, although I just recently purchased that 3-pack for like $15 of Mummy, Returns, and Scorpion King from Wal-Mart on standard DVD. I'm sure Mummy and MR have great picture and audio quality though, at least judging from the reviews on this website.

I love Zodiac. I saw it 2 times in the theater and of course, own the DVD. The acting and story are top notch, as is the direction by Fincher. It's such a damn shame that it flopped at the box office while crap like Spidey 3, Shrek 3, and Transformers did so well.

[M. Bison]

You know I loved Robert Downey Jr in it, his acting just was superb. This is a really excellent movie and it was fun as hell watching and debating with my girlfriend. You know it's possible that you might find the Mummy Movies for 15 bucks no with Wal-Mart's cheap prices. My girlfriend actually bought mine for me so it was a win for me. I don't know how much better they are from the regular dvd but they are great quality. Not as good as movies like Hot Fuzz, The Departed but still top notch.

[Diogenes]

I think the comments are more revealing about Sir Howard Stringer than about the format war.

He sounds like a guy who is bright and well-grounded, and its shown in Sony's bottom line ever since he took over.

He's the kind of guy you want running a major corporation.