You know i really cant wait until M$ releases a new 360 with internal HDDVD, and discontinues the ones currently being made. Then what will the consumer be forced to buy? It will keep M$ from lowering the price as well, which is my theory as to why the price has not gone down for this holiday season.
But that would actually be a good deal, which doesnt really matter to me as at least then I can stop hearing all the moaning about sony forcing Blu-ray down our throats as M$ will be doing the same for HDDVD .
I dont think internal HD DVD drives will be happening until mid 2007. By then the price of OEM drives for manufacturers will probably be cheaper so they can add the HD DVD drive internally with little to no price variation and take a slight increase in a loss per console.
Lets compare similar items. To show how I come up with the statement in the previous paragraph. External DVD writers average $90 to $150 depending on brand. I am using DVD writers because they do the same thing and you can get some writers for $10 retail more than the internal DVD players. Lets take the $150 once since it is a Sony drive, I am using The Sony drive as an example because its their drive in their design and manufacturing. And the MS HD DVD drive at $200. They are similar in price and design but different technology.
For the sake of arguement, let's agree that both products are the same thing with the exception of the type of drive. Therefore the cost in manufacturing, R&D, and materials are roughly the same. Which then leaves the price of the drive where the HD DVD drive is roughly $50 more than the Sony DVD writer. Now in mid 2007 as the prices drop like they do, MS may be able to get the HD DVD drives for the close to the same price they are getting their DVD9 drives. Since they are taking a $125 loss on the console alone what is another $30. IF HD DVD continues to lure supporters from BluRay, that would mean more sales for 360s at the same price we pay now. When I sell off my current 360 and HD DVD (If i decide to get one) so I can buy the new one with an internal HD DVD then I lose money because I have to sell it at less than what the new ones would cost. I dont like how it goes but its reality.
Sony's problem is that they do too much stuff in-house and try to make up for the cost in the end. Which is the reason why we pay a premium on Sony products for marginal difference.
OEM pricing still works for major manufacturers, it used to work for people who used to build their own PCs, but now its about the same or cheaper to just buy a PC because of the vendor's OEM pricing. So in short as prices decrease, we may get a 360 With internal HD DVD for far less than a PS3 because Sony is still going to play catch up to satisfy its investors.
Honestly I think BluRay COULD be the better thechnology if we were 6 years down the road, but right now I don't think its practical. Like I said in the other post, If we would have gotten what they announced then I probably would have bought a 360 AND a PS3. But now they have a higher price for less so I am cutting the PS3 out until the price cuts.
Edited to add this...
100GB Xbox 360 HD on the way?
Now things in '07 are going to get interesting... MS COULD either keep the packages as they are and add some kind of extreme package with internal HD DVD and this new 100GB drive. Which will make things more of a headache because that would mean consoles sitting on shelves instead of people's homes if they want a certain package. OR they could replace the 12x dvd players in the current premium package with the HD DVD drive and replace the 20 gb HD with the 100 GB drive to create the 'new' premium package and add the 20 gb drives to the core package and keep the prices close to they are now. Although that would piss off alot of us who own 360s right now. Apparently they didnt think Marketplace would take off like it did.
