Re: Blu-Ray remains a niche product

In an interview published this month with the American head of Sony in the 
computer magazine CPU the Sony man (name escapes me) said that right now 
they do not feel they can sell a Blu-ray player at retail for less than 
about $400 and break even.
Sony may have driven out To****ba but they still do not have a clue how to 
market Blu-ray.
Unless they get the players in the hands of consumers in the next 18
months 
they are likely to lose out to internet downloading and video on demand 
services forever.
That means getting a unit out there at a mass price point of $250 or less.

However given the current state of the American economy $250 may even be
too 
high.
Unfortunately for Sony most viewers are quite satisfied with upscaled 
conventional DVDs on their hi def televisions. If you have a big screen in
a 
big room you are not going to see all that great a difference between a 
Blu-ray and an upscaled DVD unless you are predisposed to do so because
you 
are a technofreak.