HD DVD Group responds to PS3 price-cut

Will have "minimal impact"

8 October 2007 9:51 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Quick to respond to the PS3's European price-cut, the HD DVD Promotional Group has issued a statement to say that they believe it will have "minimal impact" on the next-gen DVD market.

"The European PS3 price cut will have a minimal impact on the adoption of next generation HD formats. The real battleground is in sales of standalone players and HD DVD is out in front by a massive margin", said Ken Graffeo, co-chairman of the Group.

As well as giving Sony a much-needed sales boost in the gaming market in the run up to Christmas, the new 40GB PS3, that will be £299 when it's available later this month, will also be one of the cheapest Blu-ray players on the market.

But, the HD DVD Group are sticking by their previous stance that the true indication of a format war winner can be seen in standalone players, not gaming consoles.

The group cites independent research conducted by GfK in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland that shows HD DVD's share of the standalone player market has consistently stood at 70% or above.

Showing confidence for the immediate future of the market, in the release, the Group highlights several reasons it expects to stay ahead.

The current pan-European promotion offering five free HD DVD titles with every HD DVD player is seen as a strong sales tool, Venturer's new less-than-300 euros HD DVD player is said to be "coming soon" as is the new Toshiba HD-EP30 - which will be the first 1080p HD DVD standalone player to sell for 400 euros or less.

In addition, and in contrast to their gaming-makes-no-difference stance, the Group also points out that the Xbox HD DVD player is now available for 179 euros.