A next generation DVD format war isn’t good for consumers or the industry. When I spoke with Steve Swasey, Director of Corporate Communications, in September he stated Netflix was concerned about a fragmented market and hoped for consolidation. Neflix CFO, Barry McCarthy, touched on this topic during an investor conference call yesterday. In addition to the typical positive company spin and business opportunities you hear in these presentations, McCarthy declared Blu-ray the winner of the next generation DVD war and speculated on high-def disc pricing. Its yet to be seen whether or not their Blu-ray proclamation is premature.
(Tip and transcription via Davis Freeberg)
Netflix says: As many know there’s been a format war. Two formats have been proposed as a successor to DVD, one sponsored by Warner primarily and one sponsored by Sony. Warner is HD DVD and Sony is Blu-ray. I think it’s pretty clear that Blu-ray has won. Even Warner has agreed to license and to release technology to Blu-ray, only Universal hasn’t made a commitment at this point, so I think the format wars are a thing of the past and I think it’s going to be Blu-ray. I think the content will get priced at a 20% premium. I think it’s going to roll out slowly over time.
Everyone is now using blu-ray so it looks like Netflix helped pave the way for blu-ray to be the winner!