URL:
http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/247981019/article.plHodejo1 writes "The early adopter premium is the difference between the
cost of buying the latest greatest techno-toy today and the cost of
buying an equal or better unit a couple of years later for much less.
That Blu-ray unit you buy today for $300 will cost $80 two years from
now. The premium is the $220 you pay to get the starter Blu-ray unit
now as opposed to waiting. The same applied for HD-DVD until the axe
finally fell and this is where it gets interesting. MP3 Newswire has
been tracking post-mortem HD-DVD sales on eBay and surprisingly found
that there are many takers. And why are people flocking to buy this
decade's Betamax? Simple, they did the math. The demise of HD-DVD
format creates "an option where the consumer can get his high-def
player NOW without paying the $220 early adopter premium. That savings
pays for the player and more. New sealed boxes of the Toshiba HD-A3,
which shipped last fall for $300, are now drawing on average about $75
on eBay, where plummeting HD-DVD movie prices are averaging between $6
and $10. "Take a consumer with a 42" plasma set who needs to replace a
broken standard definition DVD player. He can a) replace it with
another standard definition DVD for about $60. b) He can buy a Blu-Ray
player for between $300-$1000. c) He can buy an HD-DVD unit for under
$80 and then buy ten $10 or sixteen $6 HD-DVD videos for a total of
$180". What really drives this is Blu-ray's skimpy catalog, which will
take a couple of years to pump up. Rather than blow the $220 on the
early adopter premium just to have access to a limited number of movies
the post mortem HD-DVD buyers can enjoy cheap Hi-Def players, cheap
Hi-Def videos, and pay less. These users can shift to Blu-ray when
players are less expensive and the catalog is robust. Actually, the
early adopter premium is more like $320. With the win, Blu-ray
manufacturers have raised prices."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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