Wal*Mart Watch

[Proteus]

Well...

Since the Walmart thing has been discussed to death, I figured I'd share my experience from last night trying to get Heavenly Sword for the PS3.

I decided to take a look around and see what was up with CE in there.

Well...

They have moved the Sony BD player out to the isle on it's own island with two displays running and some BD specific signage.

The 'hidef' movie section inside the PS3 case is now all blu-ray with the exception of two HDDVD movies (old ones).

They no longer carry _any_ Toshiba playback devices. There are no HDDVD, no DVD, or any CD players made by Toshiba in my neighborhood Walmart now. In fact, they dont' have any Toshiba televisions now either.

The only Toshiba products I could find in the entire store were laptops. They carried three models and their stock was low (you can see them in the locked case below the display model).

There was one remaining HDDVD add-on for Xbox that actually had a _lot_ of dust on it.

I asked the manager lady what was up and she said to her knowledge they will not be carrying any Toshiba CE products in the near future. She said it was something about 'a deal gone bad' and 'threats from Toshiba'. She also said that they are going to be 'significantly' pushing blu-ray in the future. She also stated that 'there are no HDDVD titles on her order sheet anymore' and that the HDDVD add-on for Xbox I saw is the last one they will likely carry as they don't sell and game case related space is now at a premium as they can't fit everything in it anymore.

I'm sure she had no clue what was really going on, but interesting that she would say such things especially considering she clearly had no interest in HiDef or CE in general but was 'just the manager'.

[sj001]

Wow, that is awesome news! I hope that becomes a chain-wide decision. Toshiba can't push Walmart around!!!

[Teazle]

Originally Posted by Proteus

There was one remaining HDDVD add-on for Xbox that actually had a _lot_ of dust on it.

That's an evocative bit of imagery. That solitary, forlorn add-on, its passed-over cardboard corrugations grimy with neglect and faded in the unforgiving glare of the flourescent tubes above. (Ok, that's enough.)

If the unit inside ever finds its way out of the box, it will probably continue to serve as a dust collector.

[krispydude]

aww...poor hd dvd

im sure the hd dvd crew will say walmart isnt the right store for HD players and media (and target, and blockbuster, and costco)

[CptGreedle]

Has Toshiba gone too far?
Wow. Trying to push people around thinking their M$.. and it backfired just like it did with M$.
I am amazed to hear this. I hope it is true cause that will be a devastating blow to Toshiba and HD-DVD!

[Razzy]

Originally Posted by Teazle

That's an evocative bit of imagery. That solitary, forlorn add-on, its passed-over cardboard corrugations grimy with neglect and faded in the unforgiving glare of the flourescent tubes above. (Ok, that's enough.)

If the unit inside ever finds its way out of the box, it will probably continue to serve as a dust collector.

Add-ons.....eeeeewww.

[alpinewiz]

The Almighty dollar rules! These rumors have been swimming all around this site and I am starting to believe this may be true. Companies are in this to make money and if they, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City etc..., can make more money selling Blu-Ray products that is what they will push until they get the chance to dump the competition, HD DVD, or find something that will make them more money. This Christmas season will define one or the other on sheer profit to the store selling the product and right now my money is on Blu-Ray. They have a higher margin on them to sustain them over a longer period of time.

[phloyd]

We have heard before that Toshiba has forced retailers to carry HD DVD players if they want to have Toshiba products.

I am guessing that Walmart just told them to go to hell.

There may be other things at play, but whatever the reason it will be interesting if Walmart opts to ditch Toshiba cos HD DVD doesn't have any other manufacturer...

[Z-Corp]

She said it was something about 'a deal gone bad' and 'threats from Toshiba'. [/QUOTE] Thats funny, Toshiba may have offered Wally the same 150 million as Paradud and it was concidered an insult. One more zero on the figure please. LMAO

[Proteus]

My logic is simple.

Sooner or later retailers will clue in to the fact that if they don't pick a side _right now_ they could lose the opportunity to make any money off of HDM in the very near future as the consumer will 'give up' and digital downloading will become the norm.

Digital Downloading is a B&M retailers worst nightmare... Especially Walmart (the largest seller of DVDs).

If retailers want to continue making _any_ money off of _any_ packaged media (including DVDs), they need to choose a side now and support it fully and end this format war. It really is that simple.

Blu-ray would be the obvious choice at this time simply based on it's massive sales advantage in discs and it's emerging advantage in standalones (not even counting the PS3). It's a 'no-brainer', sort-of-speak.

[Count Zero]

I actually noticed the same thing earlier this week at my local Walmart. When I had gone in before, there had always been a small selection of Blu and HD DVD. This time, there was NO HD DVD in sight, and they had a nicer selection of Blu. In addition they had revamped the tv section into a nice wall of HD LCDs.

[ulidayi]

on walmart's website they offer three hi-def players 2 blu-ray and 1 hd-dvd. Interesting.

[darkpoet25]

I hope this happens at the Wal-Mart I work at. We actually have an RCA hd dud player sitting in the back just collecting dust. Hehe

[Teazle]

Originally Posted by Proteus

My logic is simple.

Sooner or later retailers will clue in to the fact that if they don't pick a side _right now_ they could lose the opportunity to make any money off of HDM in the very near future as the consumer will 'give up' and digital downloading will become the norm.

Digital Downloading is a B&M retailers worst nightmare... Especially Walmart (the largest seller of DVDs).

If retailers want to continue making _any_ money off of _any_ packaged media (including DVDs), they need to choose a side now and support it fully and end this format war. It really is that simple.

Blu-ray would be the obvious choice at this time simply based on it's massive sales advantage in discs and it's emerging advantage in standalones (not even counting the PS3). It's a 'no-brainer', sort-of-speak.

This reasoning makes sense to me, but I have to comment that it does ascribe quite a lot of foresight to the retailer. I hope that they do look that far ahead and in this way assist in ending the format war.

[DAMNSAM77]

Originally Posted by phloyd

We have heard before that Toshiba has forced retailers to carry HD DVD players if they want to have Toshiba products.

I am guessing that Walmart just told them to go to hell.

There may be other things at play, but whatever the reason it will be interesting if Walmart opts to ditch Toshiba cos HD DVD doesn't have any other manufacturer...

I keep hearing more bad rep about Toshiba bullying studios and retailers, could be getting desperate...we can only hope so. One company cannot simply stand on their feet, Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, and Pioneer have all been outselling Toshiba indidividally on almost all new High defintion CE electronics including TV's (LCD, Plasma, DLP, Projectors) as well as Upconverting DVD players and A/V devices. Only exception is HDDVD players, Toshiba has sold more on their own than every single bluray CE maker individually, main reason is that they are still the only REAL HDDVD standalone player manufacturer (Venturer/Onkyo HDDVDs are still not on shelves yet), and Toshiba has marketed their cheap non-Full-HD players to the budget-minded consumers.....I dont understand why would someone spend $1500-$3000 on average on a nice HD TV set, and then ruin it with a 1080i $250 HDDVD player or even worse an an xbox-add-on. I dont see a problem with the ones buying the better 1080P $399-$499 players, but not the 1080i models, they have DVD plsyers that can upconvert to 1080P for under $100 nowadays, not to forget both 360 and PS3 will do upconvert to 1080P with HDMI or HD-15 SVGA.

[DAMNSAM77]

Originally Posted by ulidayi

on walmart's website they offer three hi-def players 2 blu-ray and 1 hd-dvd. Interesting.

They dont even offer themovie 300 on HDDVD at the store or the website, onlt the DVD and Bluray versions! Now thats a big blow to say the least

[scott1256ca]

I went in to a Walmart yesterday (Edmonton, Alberta), and until now they have had 2 racks with HD media, 1 BD, 1 HD DVD. Now they have moved them all to 1 rack, with HD DVD taking about 1/2 the space of BD. Lady I talked to didn't know anything (not surprised, she didn't look too high tech savvy) when I asked if they were looking to discontinue all HD media.

I hope it is just a restocking issue, and not getting rid of BD (I don't mind if they decide not to carry HD DVD).

It's only one store, but I don't expect this store to buck any trends.

[glenn22]

I hope Walmart goes Blu-ray exclusive, that would be much bigger news than pretty much any announcement to date. I somehow doubt it had anything to do with "threats" from Toshiba though. Ever hear of the game telephone? where you have a long line of people, the first person whispers something in the second person's ear, the second person whispers what he heard in the third person's ear.. etc? By the time it gets to the end of the line the original statement is completely skewed... I think it may be a case of something like that... or else completely fabricated BS.

[supersix4]

I thought about maybe trying a wal-mart out, but then I watched the HBO Documentary I think it was called Wal-Mart: High Cost of a Low Price.... anyway now I will never go there.

[Jamh]

If Wal-Mart did go Blu, how long do you think it would be before Paramount goes neutral again?