Blu-ray (BD) Replication Costs Coming Down

Up until this point in time , Blu-ray manufacturing costs have been cost prohibitive for most smaller Video and Film Professionals.  Just one year ago if one of our clients wanted to publish 1000 retail ready blu-ray discs the rough costs would be approximately $2500 for the mandatory AACS encryption and about $5.50 per unit retail ready.   As the Blu-ray market develops we are seeing manufacturing costs becoming more reasonable and closer to being available to smaller Video and Film creatives.

Currently we are seeing AACS costs at a one time fee of $1500 and a cost of approximately $3.00 per unit for 1000 retail ready Blu-ray units.  Overall compared to last year this is about a 50% reduction in cost to our clients.

In contrast to this are standard definition DVDs which have no mandatory encryption fees and are approximately $1.29 per unit for 1000 retail ready DVDs.

So Blu-ray Replication is about $4.50 per unit for the first 1000 units and $3.00 after that per 1000.

DVD Replication conversly is still much more affordable at $1.29 per unit, but the general cost trends are coming down for Blu-ray Replication.

As Eric Manning pointed out to me in a previous post about the mandatory AACS fee, the Blu-ray Association has required all manufacturers to pay a mandatory AACS fee for every new title produced.  If the Blu-ray Association were to consider an AACS waiver for small producers it would open the flood gate for small producers to go Blu-ray (BD).  This is the only way that I can see Blu-ray Replication truly replacing DVD as a mainstream video medium for ALL video and film producers, not just the big studios.

However, I do feel that we are headed in the right direction. Costs are coming down and the 5% of our clients that can afford Blu-ray Replication can now realize their Hi-def vision.

More information about our San Francisco Bay Area Blu-ray Duplication and Replication can be found here.

If you have questions about standard def, Video Disc Manufacturing and DVD Duplication and Replication, contact us at 1-866-210-8768.

Ask for Amy or Brian