In a recent interview with Pocket-lint, Samsung UK's director of consumer electronics forecasted that Blu-ray would last only another five years before it was replaced by something else. While it took longer than expected, someone from Sony has finally responded to this statement. Rick Clancy, senior vice president for Corporate Communications at Sony Electronics, fired back on the Sony Electronics Blog, stating that the Samsung exec's comments "couldn’t be further from the truth." With millions of Playstation 3 consoles in consumers' homes, Clancy believes that Blu-ray should be around for a least another decade.
Now, I can understand why Microsoft and Toshiba would not be immediate adopters of the format (although I predict market demand will eventually persuade them otherwise) and try to move the discussion onto networked content and DVRs, but what throws me is a recent comment by a European marketing manager of Samsung, the world second-largest seller of BD players (after Sony), who said to the press that the format only "has five years left."
In my opinion, he couldn’t be further from the truth.
First of all, there are millions of BD-based PlayStation 3 videogame consoles in consumers’ homes around the world and this number is growing fast as the device is introduced to new global markets and to new consumers every day. I believe the value of this product is only going to increase for many years to come — perhaps a decade — as developers realize the true power of PS3 in the new games they create, and as the device’s real world features like Blu-ray compatibility blend with new virtual and, yes, networked world features like PSN and Home.
