blu-ray

Format Wars: What Are the Lessons of the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD Battle?

The New York Times has a story about the Format War Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD. They asked some people to voice their opinion on the topic.

Shane Greenstein, professor of management and strategy at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University:
“Each hardware vendor lined up a large coalition, launched a sophisticated campaign, and fully funded their marketing efforts. Such sophistication led to large sunk expenses. That put both sides in a position to lose money unless the war settled quickly.”

Pai-Ling Yin, assistant professor of strategy at M.I.T.’s Sloan School of Management:
“This battle will end with both HD-DVD and Blu-ray retreating in the face of a new challenger: digital downloading. …. This question brings us to the larger war: the next-generation DVD player is only one battle in the larger war over the living room. Who will control the home entertainment center?”

Format Wars: What Are the Lessons of the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD Battle? Read More »

The Battle begins – Microsoft (HD DVD) vs. Sony (Blu-Ray)

This might be one of the most interesting strategic games in the next couple of years. Which of the nextgen High-Definition formats will win the race? Is it Microsofts HD DVD Format or will Sony’s Blu-Ray be dominating.

There is news article on EETimes.com that Microsoft “is muscling into the optical-disk fray by leveraging its operating-system clout to bundle HD-DVD within Vista, the company’s next-generation OS.” Nice strategic move. MS can try to leverage it’s market power in the market for operating systems with the roll-out of their upcoming OS called Vista.
Sony vs. Microsoft

If you want to dig a little bit deeper into the battle of formats then you should also visit arstechnica.com. They are providing some background informations about the Home entertainment strategy of MS and Sony. The high stakes they are both playing with their next generation console systems. Remember the huge subsidies for every Xbox360 console. There are some rumors floating around on the Inet, that Sony Playstation 3 (PS3) may cost twice as much as the Xbox 360! Crazy.

The Battle begins – Microsoft (HD DVD) vs. Sony (Blu-Ray) Read More »

Scroll to Top