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Armchair Analysts Rejoice: Sony and Microsoft in Blu-ray Talks

By Warren Stallworth on Thursday, March 6, 2008 at 7:10 PM EST  

Sony and Microsoft Blu-ray Talks

The event that everybody knew was going to happen just got confirmation by the Financial Times. Sony and Microsoft are in talks about offering a Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360, according to Stan Glasgow, Sony Electronics US president.

With Toshiba out of the high definition disc player race, Microsoft discontinued offering the HD-DVD add-on for its console. It’s been speculated for some time that Microsoft would adopt Blu-ray now that there is a clear champion in the HD disc format wars, and many have speculated that Microsoft may offer a Blu-ray built into the 360 itself, though it seems like an add-on would be more likely. Too many SKUs would fragment the 360s base more than it already is.

At a media dinner, Glasgow indicated that Sony is also discussing Blu-ray options with Apple, as the company has yet to offer any drives in its computers and is focused on its Apple TV and iTunes rental product lines. The Sony president, however, doesn’t think internet-only high definition will take off for some time, saying:

“Downloading will build over time, but this will be over a period of years.”

It looks like Sony and the Blu-ray Association are trying to get into everybody’s pockets. What better way than to go after the highest selling high-definition console?

Despite all of this, Microsoft is not confirming the talks, instead saying:

“We have made no such announcement. Games are what are driving consumers to purchase game consoles and we remain focused on providing the largest library of blockbuster games available.”

Going the Nintendo route it looks like. That might be a good way of doing business, as the price of Blu-ray players won’t hit the magic price point of $199 until late 2009, by Mr. Glasgow’s estimates. He expects them to fall to $299 by the end of the year, but, since Blu-ray isn’t outsourced to Chinese manufacturers yet, the prices won’t fall as fast as DVD did.

It just might be wise for Microsoft to play coy and wait a little while. Maybe they can get a better deal.

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