Is Sony undermining Blu-ray?
Sony is introducing digital movie delivery to the Playstation 3 later this year. The video game console will be host to movies from most major studios. They also have a BRAVIA media link for their lauded line of LCD displays offering online video content. The same movie service will be provided to BRAVIA later this year as well.
I do not think that Blu-ray Disc and digital delivery are peers to be compared, but does this move undermine the retail strategy of the Blu-ray Disc Association?
Two separate marketing campaigns will be engaged at the same time. I don’t mean to bring in World War II analogies, but fighting multiple fronts isn’t always the best way to get things done. It contrasts high-quality optical media with convenient internet video. While Blu-ray is higher-quality and more fully-featured than DVD, it’s physical format does hint at “old technology” while the big tech hit is the iPhone. The new technology is lower-quality than even DVD, but it seems newer, fresher.
These campaigns will have to be targeted with focused scope. Blu-ray should be marketed at the home theater market, and digital delivery at the casual market.
Oddly enough, digital delivery would seem to appeal to the youth and college crowd, but so far it looks like the lion share of Blu-ray adoption is to the younger video game crowd. However 40% of the Blu-ray market is in the over 35 crowd.
What do you think? Is Sony latching onto Microsoft’s shtick by looking to digital delivery?
