Sony to leave the "battle to the bottom" of Blu-ray player prices alone, for 2009 at least
By Richard Lawler 
posted Jun 26th 2009 1:12PM
posted Jun 26th 2009 1:12PM
posted Jun 26th 2009 1:12PM
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If Sony drops the price of the PS3, as rumored, they'll still be in the "battle to the bottom".
Considering that they can't combine a DNLA and NetFlix on a Blu-Ray player, they abandoned the race for first place as well.
I consider myself a Sony fan, but damn they can be annoying.
Why are they so slow to add new features to their stand-alone Blu-ray players? Aren't they one of the largest and successful electronics companies on the planet?
Panasonic have been killing them in reviews for Blu-ray and upscaled DVD picture quality. Samsung and LG just plain out slaughter them in features.
Sony only just introduced MP3 playback to Blu-ray and still don't even have Divx. We're so far beyond even those features, it's not funny.
It's clear that Panasonic and Samsung have changed the landscape. Sony just isn't the king of the mountain it used to be.
As long as ppl like you keep buying what ever crap Sony produces, I don't see why Sony sholdn't keep doing what they are doing right now: higher prices for little or no features.
I have to agree with foxb. I started boycotting Sony products a few years ago because of their crappy business practices (rootkit, proprietary everything, etc.), but I'm sure they don't care because most people seem to think Sony is one of the best and don't know about the "behind the scenes" crap, so they continue to buy their products.
I had the PS1 and PS2, so I was a little worried that I might regret my boycott when the PS3 came out, but I couldn't be happier with the Xbox360. Boy, did I luck out there. Thanks, Sony, for not coming out with a console better than Microsoft's.
I've also stayed away from Blu-ray for a while, but I'll be comfortable now buying a player made by anyone other than Sony.
Sony players are already hovering around the $200/€200 mark so they're not that expensive. I guess they know that they can charge a premium over the no-names right at the bottom and people will still pay it.
"we would be surprised to see Sony flip on this policy and offer price-conscious shoppers a Vizio alternative sooner rather than later."
I can't understand that sentence. Are you saying you wouldn't be surprised?
"As long as ppl like you keep buying what ever crap Sony produces..."
What kind of a dumbass comment is that? Where did I say I still buy Sony?
To say they make "crap products" is a ridiculous and ignorant statement. Their XBR LED produces the best LCD picture available. Yes, they can be slack with features and their stand-alone Blu-ray players are very disappointing, but the PS3 is still the most easily upgradeable and comprehensive Blu-ray player available.
foxb, please try and temper your moronic and patronising attitude.
Well, you said you're a Sony fanboy.
And yes, XBR LED TV is fantastic but at what price? You're the one being rediculous
Just because your a fanboy foxb, doesn't mean your blind.
I'm a massive AMD fanboy, but I haven't bought an AMD CPU since my Athlon 64 4400+. I'm currently using all Intel CPU based products in my home atm. I love the company(AMD), their product design ideas, the culture and etc, but that doesn't mean I'm blind. A true fanboy will not purchase from their company of choice when they make bad products, and spend feverishly when the company does well.
You reward a company of your choosing when they do well, and punish them when they do bad. In the case of AMD, I shun their CPU products because they are doing badly, but I buy and support their GPU's(ATi) because they did well with that product.
Just because someone *prefers* to buy one brand over the other, does not preclude them from buying from the competitor. I may be an AMD fanboy, I may prefer their products over others, but if company I prefer(lets say a Sony Blu-ray player) product is lacking and the competitor's product(Panisonic Blu-ray) is much better, then you damn well know I'll be going with the Panasonic Blu-ray player even thou I would much rather a Sony player.*
*(In reality I would most likely buy a PS3 if I wanted a Blu-ray player, as there are plenty PS3 exclusive games I have yet, and want to play as well)
fanboi = stupid and blind loyalty
fanboy = loyal, but not blind nor stupid
Mike,
True enough. But you're no longer an AMD fanboy from what you described and certainly not puzzled about why AMD is doing so poorly financially recently.
I caught the AMD bug too when I last built a PC but to be honest during the last few years (yes I'm due an upgrade) AMD have really dropped the ball. So I think next time around I'll be going back to Intel. I also defected from NVidia to AMD's ATI for graphics which was less painful than I thought it would be.
I agree with Darren Stephens. I never even considered a Sony Blu-ray player when I recently purchased a Samsung. I own a new Sony receiver so it would have made perfect sense for me. Without any additional features, it did not make any sense to me.I may have considered it if I could have purchased it for less with less features, but as it stands, the name alone did not provide any additional value. Maybe someone else is buying these. But every review I have read about the Samsung, the Panasonic, and LG players, makes Sony irrelevant.
Sony lost me when they stopped producing their fine LCOS displays.
you mean the ones they issued a recall for?
I'm not sure where Sony lost me. I think it was either at "$599!!!" or "Ridddgeee RACER!!! Riddge Racer!!!" at E3 2006.
Sony has kept their premium prices but has skimped on the premium components. I used to only buy sony, but now pioneer, panny , and samsung offer a better product for a cheaper price.
Well, if Sony won't put out a lower priced player someone else will, so its no loss. Panasonic has showed over and over they can produce a top quality Blu-ray player at the same price as Sony with more to it. I picked myself up a Samsung bd-p2550 Blu-ray player. I also have a PS3 but wanted the Samsung for its Reon HQV upscaler for my DVD's and the Netflix streaming. Got it for $149 as a Best Buy open box and couldn't be happier. In fact, I have noticed a little better color saturation and sharpness on Blu-rays, but that's probably due to the HQV processing in the Samsung. Player plays all discs, and I think Samsung has finally learned how to produce a good Blu-ray player (my first player was the bd-p1200-OUCH, a rotten little machine lol).
Well, I will continue to wait for a $100-$150 Sony Blu-Ray / DVD upscaling player before I buy one. They're going to have to lower prices soon anyway. Especially if Sony lowers the price of the PS3 to $299 around August as rumored because why would you pay $250-$299 for a stand alone Sony Blu-Ray player when you can get the PS3 for $299 with so many more features - games etc.
i used to be very against buying sony then i bought a 60 inch projection from them and love it it has a great picture and the menues or easy i like it so much more then the 32 inch samsung lcd i bought at the time i wouldnt purchase any other products from sony though because of the dvd recorder i bought it wont record any live tv at all :(
"If". Right now, I don't think Sony's financial position allows them to start losing or losing more money on the PS3 than they already have. Its been such a huge money pit. Sony of the mid 90s could afford to low-ball the console market but not today's Sony.
I haven't bought anything at BuyWay... i mean Wal-mart in well over 2 years.
Any company moving its brand there should better if they want to keep the good name they have.