Sir, since both formats still arent backing down to have one standard format, it also might become a possibility that the consumers will get confused and stick to DVDs. Just like what happened to DVDa and SACD.
I could not imagine that I have to buy a Blu ray player to play disney titles and a HD-DVD player to play other movies.
Oh well, it remains to be seen. 
True it all remains to be seen. So much speculation in various forums on the net.
But in the case of SACD and DVD-A, serious audiophiles do have dedicated SACD and DVD-A players, apart from their CD players and DVD-players, though all formats can be played in one universal player. Obviously, the industry is not in a hurry to settle which audio format will replace CDs, as the market seems to develop niches for these varying formats.
There are opinions that say video might take the same path, developing niches for high defenition while maintaining DVDs for the general consumer who just wants to watch a movie in the privacy of his home. So serious videophiles could have a HD-DVD player and Blu-Ray player for the high def titles that went either way and still maintain a regular DVD player (though HD-DVD is downward compatible.) And there's already talk about a universal video player that can play DVD, HD-DVD and BR.
Others opine that it would be a repeat of the Beta-VHS wars with one clear winner at the end determined by three factors, the consumer, the manufacturer and movie studios.
Bottomline is, there's a good chance DVD prices will fall steeply to the benefit of DVD collectors or video collectors in general. It won't happen if HD-DVD or Blu-Ray develop niches. But if one dominates with enough titles to bring the prices to the level of the general consumers, you can expect DVD prices to really fall. I don't expect DVD to become extinct, as it's a solidly defined format that, in the presence of High Def formats, can fill the low end market, eventually replacing VCDs in third world countries.
I just hope that happens sooner than later.
