Sony announces wholesale Blu-Ray movie prices
By Kevin C. Tofel 
posted Feb 8th 2006 7:58AM
posted Feb 8th 2006 7:58AM
The price might sound high, but when you realize these are the same prices for DVDs when they
originally came out in the '90s, it's not a tough pill to swallow. Sony announced that wholesale catalog Blu-Ray titles will be $17.95, while new release titles come in higher
at $23.45. Retail prices will clearly be higher once some retailer profit is built in to the model, but it's a safe bet
that we won't see titles in the $30 and up range. How does this wholesale price sound to you? Is the higher resolution and prospect of additional features on a Blu-Ray disc worth this initial price point? Better yet, what retail prices for Blu-Ray content sound fair to you?
It will be interesting to see how much lower HD-DVD wholesale costs will be since they're cheaper to press. HD-DVD will be walking a fine line. If HD-DVDs are not priced low enough, they will be steam-rolled by PS3's Blu-ray community. If the price is too low then the average consumer will be left with the impression of product inferiority.
Basically the wholesale price of a blu-ray movie will be 17.99 for old titles and $23.99 for new releases. You then have to mark up 40% to distribution, and another 40% to retail. That means blu-ray movies will be $34.99 for old titles and $45.99 for new releases.
People already are complaining about paying more than $25 for a DVD. What makes these morons think they can double the price and survive?
If this does indeed become the price point then the entire format is doomed.
its ignorant to say this price point is doomed when you don't have the price of HD-DVD yet and when its the same price point that DVD's came out.
I'm curious to see the Blue ray price this low after hearing how much more it would cost to manufacture the media. I'm also curious to see how HD-DVD will price b/c they need to make profit as well.
Also remember, you're buying HD movies and these companies are targeting people with HDTV's. I'm sure the people who pay a ton, i.e. >$3000 for a HDTV and more for HD cable, won't see this as a show stopper. The price will come down as this is an early adopter tech still.
Personally, the price of the Blueray or HD-DVD player is more of a concern than the price of the media at this point in time. $30-$40 for media is one thing. Upfront cost of $600-$800 for the equipment is high for first generation hardware hurts the mind and wallet.
#2
there is no way there will be an 80% mark-up, distributors and stores know that they will not sell if they mark the prices up that much. i think early on you will see stores willing to make only a couple dollars off them just to get them accepted into homes and then as the manufacturing price comes down they'll be a little slow to lower their prices so that they can make up some profit. i guaruntee you that if walmart prices them at $45 like you say there will be internet sites like buy.com that will be selling them for $30 and the larger retailers would be forced to come down, but like i said before there's no way that'll happen
Warner said that they'll most likely be pricing HD DVD and Blu-Ray the same, so I'm guessing that's what other studios will do. They did say higher prices ($35-$45) should be expected for hybrids and super-special editions.
And there's also the "screw that, I just bought over a hundred DVDs" factor. That's where I'm falling these days. I have an upconvert DVD player (and yes, I realize that's not the same) and I'm happy with it. Honestly, while I appreciate HD for sports, I can't see much of a reason to shell out another $500+ for a new Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player PLUS buy a whole bunch of movies again. I DON'T WANT TO SWITCH FORMATS. Going from VHS to DVD was painful and expensive initially and now I'm pretty doggone happy with DVD. I know why the MPAA isn't happy with DVD, but they should have tried harder on the security if they really wanted to keep it "secure" (which really seems to mean taking away all semblance of fair-use rights). People never seem to mention it, but the protections of DVD really were meaningless to large-scale piracy shops. I don't think the HD-DVD or Blu-Ray are going to be any different. HDCP and other assorted "anti-piracy" technologies are more about limiting consumers' rights than anything else.
I think the best thing for consumers would be if Sony and Toshiba threw a format war and nobody came.
I agree with James. Also if the movie was not originally shot in HD how much much better will it be on Blu-Ray or HD-DVD?
Kind of like AAD etc. in the early days of CDs.
I know how much Best Buy marks up on their DVDs... the wholesale price point is almost identical, with new releases being slightly higher. $19.99 movies are around $17, I believe, for wholesale. While new releases are $21ish. Don't have exact numbers, but I can get some if it'd stop all you naysayers from crying about it.
And it's all relatively moot anyways since Best Buy always sells new releases for a shitload less than wholesale in order to draw market away from competing retailers. Ever notice how new releases are $14.99?
So stop whining about this wholesale price and wait until you take your wallet out.
I think it's worth it. If you don't, then don't buy it. Millions of other people will.