Theory about Amazon.com

[Elandyll]

Hi!

Something has been sortof puzzling me recently.
It's the high ranking of the HD DVD players on Amazon.
Everywhere the Blu Ray hardware is giving HD DVD a beating, but not on Amazon? Why would that be?

Evidence #1: List of "Bestseller" Electronics, DVD Player section.
(to get there from the main page, Click on Electronics->Tv/Home Theatre on the left, then Top seller at the top. Then DVD Player section on the left).
The list is supposedly updated hourly, but I'll get back to that.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers...ef=pd_ts_e_nav

On that list, supposedly the top sellers for Amazon on all DVD disc type players (including DVD players, Blu Ray players and HD DVD), you can find

HD-A30: #2
HD-A3: #3
HD-A35: #5

First Blu Ray
Panny BD-MP30K: #9

Evidence #2
Now, if you follow a different logic
(From Main page, go to Electronics->TV-home Theatre. Right in the middle of the page you have a picture of a HD DVD, with the section "DVD Players and Recorders" right under it. Click on that. It then lists you all the items found in that category, with order being either price, or bestselling -the default-).
http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=amb_link...f_rd_i=1065836

The list is -radically- different.

The BD panny is #6, the Samsung #11, with only Upscaler / normal DVD players around them.
The first HD DVD is found in #40, an A2.

Other things to ponder about, despite the huge drop in price of the hardware, and the %53 off about software:
http://www.eproductwars.com/dvd/

So ... Wth is Amazon doing with its rankings?
When they say the "Best Seller" list is updated "hourly", who's doing that?
Because their "bestselling" sorting criteria seems to be doing this on the fly just by considering how many units are bought. No need to have anything "process", just put on top whichever item is going through the paying process the most.
Is the Top Seller section sponsored by Toshiba for the DVD players ?
Might explain a lot of things...

Are the HD A30 and A3 really outselling $30 DVD players and $60 upscaling ones?

[TheRealBob]

That is indeed very interesting.

Anyone have any theories on this? It doesn't seem to make sense.

[kjack]

I've pointed this out a few times on another forum, that what products are listed and in what order, seem dependent on how you got to the page. Even made a PDF and posted it to make the point. But some people simply use what makes their preferred format look best rather than question the integrity of the data.

[actionhank]

I think you're giving too much thought into these rankings. It matters little how good or bad HD-DVD is doing in one store, what matters is the aggregate (total) compiled by Nielsen or other tracking firms. And there we can see which format is winning

[TheRealBob]

Originally Posted by actionhank

I think you're giving too much thought into these rankings. It matters little how good or bad HD-DVD is doing in one store, what matters is the aggregate (total) compiled by Nielsen or other tracking firms. And there we can see which format is winning

True, it doesn't matter too much in the long run, but these Amazon numbers have constantly been held up as proof that HD DVD still has life in it. When other parts of the site show very different numbers which are much more favorable to Blu-ray, it's enough to make you wonder what is going on.

[reiella]

Originally Posted by kjack

I've pointed this out a few times on another forum, that what products are listed and in what order, seem dependent on how you got to the page. Even made a PDF and posted it to make the point. But some people simply use what makes their preferred format look best rather than question the integrity of the data.

Given Amazon's big thing is supposedly targetted marketing/design, it makes sense that the path effects the output.

Then there's also Sales Rank is derived from the giant Question Marks.

For all we know, Sales Rank may be influenced by browsing over the item. It's a closed system, that doesn't seem to mirror the rest of the market, so doubt is cast.

[Sylin]

It's just Ken Graffeo buying up gobs and gobs of players every day to skew the numbers.

[Thegide]

Given that HD DVD software has taken a nosedive on amazon, I'm not particularly worried about sales rank of hardware.

First, sales rank does not give any indication of units sold. Small differences in sales among a large number of products could be misleading in suggesting that sales were drastically different.

Secondly, HD DVD hardware stock is being liquidated - Toshiba's primary incentive right now is to sell as much hardware to minimize their operating losses. Unsold units do not benefit them. Same goes for retails who have bought the units outright. I'm not at all surprised by hardware sales in light of clearance pricing.

Given the discrepancies between HD DVD software sales and hardware sales, it would appear that the clearance pricing is not attracting new market, but rather these units are being sold and 2nd, 3rd units, or as DVD upconverters. Funny to see HD DVD's beloved attach rate sinking like a stone.

Regardless how you look at it, HD DVD is failing as a next-gen format. Studios are only invested in the software, and that is where HD DVD isn't moving. So, you ask yourself, does this trend really even matter?

[Clark Kent]

Someone once broke down Amazon's sales rankings on another website who supposedly knows someone on their coding team. The rankings are weighted based on how well the product has sold over a period as long as a year with obviously the more recent time frames(as short as an hour or 15 minutes) getting more weight. I've had suspicions they goose the rankings sometimes to move slow selling products or clear stock.

[Elandyll]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

Someone once broke down Amazon's sales rankings on another website who supposedly knows someone on their coding team. The rankings are weighted based on how well the product has sold over a period as long as a year with obviously the more recent time frames(as short as an hour or 15 minutes) getting more weight. I've had suspicions they goose the rankings sometimes to move slow selling products or clear stock.

This would be my suspicion as well, specially for the "Best Seller" list.