We predicted drastic measures in Blu-ray pricing, but Disney might be going the wrong way. CEO Robert Iger indicated on a conference call with analysts today that since the company's Blu-ray releases are packing all sorts of extra features like Digital Copy and BD-Live, it might be able to raise prices following a Q1 profit drop of 64%. The scariest part is that Disney's economic shortfalls were consistent with the overall home entertainment downturn, so it might not be the only studio with this reaction to shrinking profits, looking to squeeze an extra few bucks out of the customers willing to spend the most.

Set your TiVo deathwatch monitoring devices to "hold", the the third quarter our friends from Alviso did manage to post a profit of $100.6 million, after figuring in a $105 million payment from Echostar. Patent related profits aside, a net loss of 163,000 subscribers is less heartening, as well as the acknowledgment that many mass distribution deals are still "in early phases of deployment." As it is, while ordering pizzas and queueing shows on the go is nice, we're still waiting for real profits and deployments before the 'watch gets lifted.

So, apparently sales of Blu-ray players and DTV converter boxes are on the up and up now that the format war is over and the DTV transition is quickly approaching in the USA -- who would've thunk it? According to reports, Funai's latest quarter saw an operating income increase of 108.8%, and it didn't hesitate to thank sales of Blu-ray players and DTV converters for such a surge. The outfit also proclaimed that sales of CRT TVs and DVD decks were down, and even though the boost from converter boxes will be short lived, it's hoping a deeper adoption of BD and sales of Philips-branded LCD TVs will compensate in 2009. Godspeed, we say.

[Via VideoBusiness]

Only a few months have passed since Australia's Foxtel launched its HD+ service, and judging by the numbers, Aussies are warming to high-def. The carrier just posted a 17% rise in revenue (up to $1.7 billion), and it's expecting the numbers to remain high as more consumers cave to the temptation of high-definition programming. Furthermore, 40,000 new users have signed on since the HD+ launch, and the average revenue per user has skyrocketed to nearly $85 per month "as a result of a higher take-up of additional services such as Foxtel iQ." There's no specific mention of additional HD channels, but given that bigwigs surely realize how critical they are to revenue growth, we can't imagine them not giving you folks a few more here shortly.

Compared to competitor DISH Network, DirecTV is having The Best Week Ever. Second quarter results posted today were up to analysts estimates, adding 129,000 to its 17.2 million subscribers in the U.S. and lowering its churn rate to 1.49 percent. Average revenue per user (i.e. how much cash they get from you every month) rose 7% thanks to people signing up for high definition and DVR service, while revenue in Latin America jumped 49%. Add to that news that DISH Network wants to give things another go, and we imagine they're feeling pretty good about themselves in El Segundo, you'd think they could find the time to return our wallet one of these days.

So Sony didn't do so hot this quarter, but that's not to say someone else can't have fun at its expense. Matsushita Electric just posted its most recent quarterly earnings, and needless to say, it's probably pretty stoked about the 86% rise in profit. According to reports, the majority of the credit goes to digital camera and flat-panel television sales, and even though sales actually decreased 4%, operating profit still rose 48% from a year prior. Good to see someone's making sure that flat-panels rule the consumer electronics roost in 2008.

While we just heard last month that flat-panel sales would be spearheading 2008 consumer electronics growth, a new outlook has those very sales looking bleak for the remainder of the year. The news come amidst the expectation of LG Display to post profits for Q2 that "more than [triple] thanks to strong demand for TVs and tight supplies of PC panels." According to James Kim, an analyst at Lehman Brothers, "earnings have peaked in the second quarter," and while he asserts that "demand to replace TVs with flat-screen models is still there, fewer consumers are buying large-size TVs because of the weak economy." Still, sales of smaller sets are expected to steadily climb in emerging markets as the Beijing Olympics draw near, but it remains to be seen how large an impact those markets will have.

[Via WidescreenReview]

Yeah, we're still scratchin' our noggins too, but even after we rubbed our eyes and adjusted the bifocals, it still looks as if the AP is reporting that Samsung will stop selling flat panel televisions and "other consumer products" in Japan. Hot on the heels of Hitachi pulling the plug on RPTVs on this side of the pond, Samsung is citing "poor profitability" as the reasoning behind its dramatic move, and it noted that LCD TVs, DVD players, DAPs and "other items" would no longer be sold to individuals in the Land of the Rising Sun. It was, however, stated that the outfit would continue selling flat screen computer monitors directly to businesses along with memory chips, LCDs and mobile phones to Softbank, but considering that last year less than one-percent of the firm's total sales in the country were made up of consumer electronics sales, we guess it's a little easier to wrap our head around the decision. Nevertheless, there's no reason for us to think that Sammy will be pulling back the reins in any other regions of the world, but it'll be quite strange in Tokyo with no signs of Sammy in the CE realm.

After losing money in the same period a year ago, Sony outperformed analysts expectations in the April-June period and profited $276 million US. LCD sales of their BRAVIA line were up "five-fold" from last year, as their partnership with Samsung netted more than $29 million by itself. According to CFO Nobuyuki Oneda TVs were still in the red as a whole but were the largest contributing factor to their growth. Even including expected costs associated with launching the Playstation 3 this fall (Blu-ray format, the BDP-S1 and other non-Playstation products went notably unmentioned in the articles and internal documents we read ), they revised their operating profits forecast by 30% for the financial year ending next March.

After a string of bad news, reviews and delays Sony may be ready to get back on a winning track and their big products for the holiday are still waiting in the wings.

Read - Sony Returns to Profit in Fiscal 1Q - AP
Read - Sony Game Sales Down 30% - Next Generation
Read - Sony swings to Q1 profit, recovery on track - Reuters
Read - Q1 FY2006 Sony Group Earnings Announcement - Sony

It's that time of year, as companies report their results for the first quarter, already we've seen two benefit from high definition. Comcast reported growth as a result of adding customers in phone video and high speed internet, as well as adding DVR's and high definition for existing digital cable customers.Sony beat expectations due to investments and gained marketshare in the flat screen TV market, but still had a loss over the quarter.

As the market of HDTV owners and interested buyers continues to grow, it will be interesting to see how it affects the various device and content providers' businesses. We'll probably keep an eye on the Time Warner blog to see if they have any updates.

[Note: I am a Comcast employee and stockholder. I don't own stock in Sony, but I did love my Betamax player in what some would consider an inappropriate fashion.]

[Oh yeah, and Time Warner owns AOL, who owns this blog, I think I'm disclaimered up now, but you never know, so watch for updates.]