Will Warner still stock some HD DVD after May 31?

[HeavyHitter]

http://www.dvdtown.com/news/will-war...sked-them/5234

Not sure how important, still puzzling. I thought they were going to cut off HD DVD permanently.

[Sonny]

I sure as hell hope not

[Sonny]

We still have Para BD's floating around Sooooooooo...

[OokieSpookie]

Until they run out of backstock in warehouses they will.
They will not make new releases and they will not press any more disks.

[stockstar1138]

not really to worry.

"If there is product available in HD DVD and there is a request from a retailer, we will provide," said Ronnee Sass, Vice President - Publicity & Promotion."

All thats saying is if we have excess stock we aren't going to just destroy it if there is somebody asking for it.

There are 3 things HD DVD has to overcome for this to happen though.

1. WB can't run out of stock, they must have excess of the movie. I beileve they have already stopped production on a lot of those older movies that don't sell so well. Try to find something like Grand Prix or Mutiny on the Bounty, its next to impossible to find and retailers really don't seem to be demanding more of those now, so why will they in the future.

2. The retailer has to sell out of the WB HD DVDs at his store. Go to a store now and look at how many HD DVD Harry Potter's are sitting on the shelves, the store is not going to be selling out anytime soon with the market the way it is now. He won't be asking WB for anymore movies anytime soon. Isn't even more popular movies like 300 selling at a 10:1 ration Blu:Red, I mean, thats saying if the blu-ray is selling 15k a week, which is good, that HD DVD is only selling 1,500. Which given the fact that there is probably at least 10,000 stores in the US retailing HD DVD right now. We got something like, 1 out of every 6 retailers sell one copy of 300 per week. Thats awful. Stores aren't going to be asking for more anytime soon.

3. The store has to want more once it sells out. If it takes a Best Buy 6 months to go through a dozen Harry Potter 1-4. When he finally does sell out , do you think he is going to ask for more of a product that sold so poorly. I doubt it.

[Xerious]

makes no sense to press stuff onto a dead format... they will sell through their stock and that will be it. kinda like VHS... you can't just expect them to burn the rest... too many stupid hdud-aholes out there who will buy them... in droves even.

[CptGreedle]

With all the retailers ending their support of HD DVD, and the great sales of Blu-ray, and the fact that this little known fact will not be turning tides.. I don't see how this is a problem.
They will supply a product if there is a profit to be made. When there are so many BDs out there that no one is asking for old catalogue WB HD DVD titles, they will stop making them. Most people are not in this war yet, and when they join, there will be no HD DVD players to buy, no HD DVDs in stores, and no demand.

[cartier]

As far as the restocking of already existing titles goes, it is not a big problem as it is made clear in the article it will be based off of existing inventory. So if WB has a copy in their warehouse and the retailer has a need, why not sell it let WB recover some money from having to produce it in the first place. They will not be making a new copy to satisfy demand. The other comment about possibly making a HD DVD copy for a title, that sounds a little bit more interesting and discouraging. However, I would not read too much into it. Most likely the VP either misspoke or got the policy wrong, during a transition like this you sometimes get mixed messages from people who overstep their are of expertise.

[blujacket]

dvdtown is a joke. Look above the article and what do you see? Explains it all.

[WickyWoo]

Warner will not repress any HD DVDs after March 1. New titles will be pressed basically to order from what I hear.

They will continue to supply them until stock is depleted, unlike Paramount that just stabbed everyone in the back

[tron3]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

Warner will not repress any HD DVDs after March 1. New titles will be pressed basically to order from what I hear.

They will continue to supply them until stock is depleted, unlike Paramount that just stabbed everyone in the back

I must be behind the news, you talking about the FIRST stab in the back by Paramount, or a reverse stab in the back against HD DVD?

[WickyWoo]

I'm talking about Paramount cutting off all supply of Blus with no warning

[ClaytonMG]

Love how those people commented and said that movies like The Dark Knight will be released... I think they might've missunderstood somethings. I believe the reason WB said that some HD DVD's might be released on a case by case basis is because there might be some dumb director out there (think of the opposite of Steven Spielberg and all the other Blu-Ray supporters) who want their films on HD DVD.

[atomik kinder]

Originally Posted by ClaytonMG

Love how those people commented and said that movies like The Dark Knight will be released... I think they might've missunderstood somethings. I believe the reason WB said that some HD DVD's might be released on a case by case basis is because there might be some dumb director out there (think of the opposite of Steven Spielberg and all the other Blu-Ray supporters) who want their films on HD DVD.

I was thinking maybe just Harry Potter, since they released the incomplete box set...

[ClaytonMG]

Originally Posted by atomik kinder

I was thinking maybe just Harry Potter, since they released the incomplete box set...

I honestly think that by the time Harry Potter 6 comes out, there will be only Blu-Ray. But I also think that WB said what they said to prevent any sort of lawsuits or anything like that without any specific titles in mind.

[Living Near Shamu]

Another what if scenario that actually answers its own question.

[Joe Cain]

Originally Posted by atomik kinder

I was thinking maybe just Harry Potter, since they released the incomplete box set...

Gee, that wouldn't be due out on disc till, what, Q2 2009? Could Warner be the last studio selling HD DVDs?

If Warner's intent is to eliminate consumer confusion and consolidate the HDM market, I can't see them making a sensible decision to continue to support HD DVD on a case-by-case basis (particularly a blockbuster-by-blockbuster basis---we're Warner and we're all Blu except Dark Knight and HP: HBP.)

[OokieSpookie]

Originally Posted by ClaytonMG

I honestly think that by the time Harry Potter 6 comes out, there will be only Blu-Ray. But I also think that WB said what they said to prevent any sort of lawsuits or anything like that without any specific titles in mind.

NO NEW TITLE HD-DVDS WILL BE RELEASED FROM WARNER AFTER MAY.
PERIOD.
There is not even the slimmest of the slim possibility of any lawsuit no matter what interweb people may want to say.
Incomplete sets are a fact of life and there is no contractual obligation that says they have to complete any set.
I guarantee it was a misquote, and will be cleared up very soon.

[Living Near Shamu]

Originally Posted by OokieSpookie

NO NEW TITLE HD-DVDS WILL BE RELEASED FROM WARNER AFTER MAY.
PERIOD.

Thank you.

[whippersnapper]

Originally Posted by stockstar1138

not really to worry.

"If there is product available in HD DVD and there is a request from a retailer, we will provide," said Ronnee Sass, Vice President - Publicity & Promotion."

All thats saying is if we have excess stock we aren't going to just destroy it if there is somebody asking for it.

There are 3 things HD DVD has to overcome for this to happen though.

1. WB can't run out of stock, they must have excess of the movie. I beileve they have already stopped production on a lot of those older movies that don't sell so well. Try to find something like Grand Prix or Mutiny on the Bounty, its next to impossible to find and retailers really don't seem to be demanding more of those now, so why will they in the future.

2. The retailer has to sell out of the WB HD DVDs at his store. Go to a store now and look at how many HD DVD Harry Potter's are sitting on the shelves, the store is not going to be selling out anytime soon with the market the way it is now. He won't be asking WB for anymore movies anytime soon. Isn't even more popular movies like 300 selling at a 10:1 ration Blu:Red, I mean, thats saying if the blu-ray is selling 15k a week, which is good, that HD DVD is only selling 1,500. Which given the fact that there is probably at least 10,000 stores in the US retailing HD DVD right now. We got something like, 1 out of every 6 retailers sell one copy of 300 per week. Thats awful. Stores aren't going to be asking for more anytime soon.

3. The store has to want more once it sells out. If it takes a Best Buy 6 months to go through a dozen Harry Potter 1-4. When he finally does sell out , do you think he is going to ask for more of a product that sold so poorly. I doubt it.

At some point Best Buy corporate will simply put out an order to all its B&M stores to box up all their remaining inventory of HD-DVDs and ship them off to Best Buy's online store. This will be needed to have adequate shelf space for the expanding Blu-ray selection and to also reinforce the message that Blu-ray is THE high def format.