You guys are correct that having the two formats has produced some great deals (like the $99 HD DVD players) that have resulted in lower prices than we would otherwise have at the moment.
That said, with one only format many smaller companies (think of the $30 DVD players at Target) would be investing in making HD disc players. In the long-term, I think the price level won't benefit from having the two formats. The intense competition between the two camps will be offset by less competition from smaller manufacturers.
For example maybe let's say that with only one format total demand is 100 (hypothetical index number). With two formats some buyers are going to be turned off entirely and total demand might be 80 (again, hypothetical index number). These folks will just stick with DVD. Now since total market demand is less and split between two formats, the smaller manufacturers may not have the incentive to invest in projects to build either one of the players. In this case, we would not see the price reductions that we would get with only format.
“An engineer explained to us that hundreds of ear impressions were gathered in the name of research, and while each one obviously boasted its own unique shape and size, one single characteristic remained uniform across the board: the entrance into the ear canal is not a perfect circle, it's an oval.”
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You guys are correct that having the two formats has produced some great deals (like the $99 HD DVD players) that have resulted in lower prices than we would otherwise have at the moment.
That said, with one only format many smaller companies (think of the $30 DVD players at Target) would be investing in making HD disc players. In the long-term, I think the price level won't benefit from having the two formats. The intense competition between the two camps will be offset by less competition from smaller manufacturers.
For example maybe let's say that with only one format total demand is 100 (hypothetical index number). With two formats some buyers are going to be turned off entirely and total demand might be 80 (again, hypothetical index number). These folks will just stick with DVD. Now since total market demand is less and split between two formats, the smaller manufacturers may not have the incentive to invest in projects to build either one of the players. In this case, we would not see the price reductions that we would get with only format.