Sony Corp (6758.T) and BSkyB (BSY.L) have a vested interest at hard-promoting HDTV. They are facing common problems, and run complementary businesses, since while the former produces the boxes and its Hollywood studios invent content, the latter delivers both over its set-top-boxes and paying channels.
HD-ready apparels are already gleaming in your next dealer's shop window, but is this really good news, isn't it a little early for this? All in all, the pace at which "all this", as one old lady was thinking aloud on Queensway the other day -TV, PC, Mobile, MP3, formats, standards, 5./6./7.1 etc.- all these revolutionary changes leave consumers quite puzzled about their next generation gadget(s)...
Summary of FAQs:
First - how long does a generation last? Good question, read everything on this site and you'll get a fair idea; Second - can these monsters, once for all, agree on common formats and simplify our lives and decisions? Well, no... and that will increase uncertainty, hence postpone consumers' choices; Third - How can they convince us quick, since big money has been thrown away in huge investments, and late announcements from the CE/TV industry, hurt by the game changing, are quite upsetting.Today's annoucement is about marketing: The giants will "jointly market High Definition TV" with common advertising campaigns about the new format and the fabulous step it represents for our eyes... and wallet, one might add. On the other hand, discounts will be granted to those who will buy a Sony HDTV, and a BSkyB set-top-box. Of which magnitude? We'll see, but bear in mind that we are talking of big amounts of cash for the average household.
BSkyB has topped expectations with 8 million subscribers. The aim is to go for 10 million by 2010, and they seem to think that HDTV might give it a boost. Again, we'll see but time may play in their favour, with prices gradually going down, as it is most often the case for any new technology. The model is less clear, though, for Sony. The true hope among industry players is that those who have not traded their old Cathode Ray Tube TV today will jump straight into HDTV tomorrow, when comes the time for replacement.
Howard Stringer, Chairman and CEO, Sony, couldn't be clearer when he declared: "Until today we have laboured under a Catch 22. If the industry didn't produce and broadcast in HD, the consumer would be reluctant to purchase HD television sets or equipment." What an understatement... Now time only can tell if the advertsising marriage between the two boxes will prove to have been a good investment.
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