An anonymous hacker altered the official Blu Ray Disc Association's web site to redirect to the official HD DVD web site today.

 

Starting around 3pm Eastern time today visitors to the official Blu Ray web site found themselves on the front page of the official HD DVD web site. Checking as I write this, the redirect is still in effect. While this may be the most humorous blow struck in the Format War, AV Enthusiast has to disapprove the actions of the hacker. No one wants someone tampering with their web site, and the attention HD DVD will receive from such an act is dubious.

 

AV Enthusiast initially decided not to publish this story because we don't condone such actions, but upon further review decided it still qualifies as relevant news.

 

 

Another entry level Blu Ray player has dropped in price, just in time for last minute Christmas shoppers.

 

The Sony BDP-S300 is being listed on Best Buy and Circuit City's web sites for the new price of $299. No mention on whether the price cut is permanent or just a temporary incentive to move players.

 

The Sony BDP-S300 joins Samsung's BD-P1400 in the sub $500 Blu Ray player club.

 

This week on VideoBusiness,  market analysis firm The Diffusion Group thinks the first group of HD adopters was weighted with technophiles and videogamers. Their research suggests that the next wave will be more price conscious.

 

They say this may favor HD DVD, as HD DVD players average about $100 less than Blu Ray players. As the number of people looking to adopt increases, age and average incomes decrease. Taking a survey of people who say they are likely to buy either HD DVD or Blu Ray in the next six months, 43% responded that HD DVD was their preference, compared to 27% for rival Blu Ray. 30% of those questioned remain undecided. “The strength of this preference and its correlation to mainstream attributes are notable,” stated Michael Greeson, president and principal analyst at TDG. “Today’s high-def DVD owner is likely an early adopter with a knack for power gaming; most certainly tech sophisticates not at all mainstream in temperament. The next wave of buyers is comprised of early mass-market consumers, a much larger segment with focus on practical considerations such as price. It is TDG’s opinion that the format which can best address the needs of mainstream consumers will emerge as the winner of this format war.”

 

There is still a major battle for hearts and minds being waged this holiday shopping season. It will be interesting to see how the numbers shake out for the Harry Potter movies, which are on both Blu Ray and HD DVD. 

 

Market analyst DisplaySearch has released some data for the crucial Black Friday week, ending November 24.

 

On the HD stand-alone player front 57,000 units were moved. HD DVD accounted for 62% of player sales, with rival Blu Ray claiming 37% of units sold. This in contrast to 600,000 standard dvd players sold in the same week. Despite the lower number, Blu Ray claimed 52% of revenue for HD stand-alone players that week, due to the higher margin on their hardware. Things looked a little gloomier for HD DVD on the software sales front that week. With a slew of new releases facing little to no competition from HD DVD, Blu Ray accounted for 72.6% of software sales.

 

DisplaySearch postulates that not much will change with the sales trends we've seen this fall. They predict year-end installed hardware base at 678,000 HD DVD players and 461,000 Blu Ray players.