Price has long been considered one of, if not the toughest hurdle Blu-ray Disc must clear in order to reach mainstream status and begin to replace DVD as the first choice for disc-based home entertainment. Most potential future adopters with smaller television sets do not see enough of an upgrade to pay more for Blu-ray when their current DVD setup functions just fine.
A new trend has begun to emerge this holiday shopping season that has seen the price of Blu-ray Disc titles take a nosedive. New release films previously selling between $25 and $30 are now showing up for $20 or less at all the major retail outlets.
The proof is in the pudding at online retailer Amazon.com where 9 of the 10 hourly top selling Blu-ray Disc titles are priced just under $20 (view the Blu-ray bestsellers at Amazon). The only one not, Monsters, Inc., is a mere $1 more because of Disney’s $40+ suggested retail price.
These are not chump films we are talking about either. The top 10 includes J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, Up, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Fight Club, Cars, Terminator Salvation, The Hangover, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Looking beyond the top 10 shows the sub $20 trend continuing with the exception of large sets like Gone With the Wind and Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut.
What is most important about these price cuts is where Blu-ray now measures against DVD. In most cases the Blu-ray and DVD prices are now identical or a few cents higher for Blu-ray. That leaves the only real price advantage for DVD in single-disc sets when studios offer multiple skus for the same film.
These new prices will move a lot of product between now and Christmas. For Blu-ray to further penetrate DVD pricing, they will need to hold into 2010 and beyond with hardware prices following suit. Otherwise DVD will continue to be good enough and Blu-ray will have to settle for second fiddle.
