Sony last week confirmed that the 60GB Playstation 3 will drop in price to £349, bundled with two first-party games, with an additional "Entry Level" 40GB model coming for £299.
However, this could be seen more as a stock clearance exercise on Sony's part, given that they are killing off the 60GB PS3, and possibly introducing a new 160GB console.
Though Sony will claim that their new entry level PS3 is the cheapest way to experience Blu-ray, the HD DVD Promotional Group has said that these changes will have minimal impact on consumers' format choice.
Ken Graffeo, Co-Chairman of the European HD DVD Promotional Group, has said that "the real battleground is in sales of standalone players", claiming that HD DVD is out in front by a "massive margin".
Quoting GfK's research in UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland, the HD DVD Promotional Group claims that HD DVD players are chosen by at least seven out of ten European consumers.
They also expected this "leadership" position to be enhanced by four factors:
* the current pan-European promotion offering five free HD DVDs with every player sold
* the new player from Venturer retailing at €300
* the new Toshiba HD-EP30 1080p HD DVD player retailing for under €400
* the Xbox HD DVD player on sale for €179.
Research from the Diffusion Group seems to add weight to the claim that most movie lovers buy standalone players, not games consoles, to watch films. Michael Greeson, President and Principle Analyst, says that, "Recent (US) research by The Diffusion Group found that among those that own a games console that supports DVD playback, less than 40% are actually using the consoles for viewing DVD movies (and in most cases infrequently)"
More spin, of course.
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