Oh noes teh sky is falling!

[Wet1]

Originally Posted by The Shrike

Why would you post this bullshit in the Insiders Thread?? Isn't this thread cluttered enough???

Because it's relevant to the discussion at hand... HD-DUD is going to do some damage with these sales this holiday season. The BDA NEEDS to do something and this message NEEDS to get back to the top. I'm not the only die-hard BR supporter that's going to be adopting HD-DUD, not to mention all the J6Ps that will be joining the HDM war.

Time to wake the F-up BDA. Toshiba just threw a serious low blow that's going to sting!

[CptGreedle]

Think of it this way.. Toshiba has to sell about 4 or 5 times more HD-DVD players to make the same money BD makers would, except that the A2 is making them loose money on each unit sold so they will not make any profit from this.

These ARE the beginning death throws of HD-DVD. If WB can make this phenomenal announcement soon, we will show HD-DVD that cheap @$$ players mean squat!

[DavePS3]

My view is... anyone only wanting to spend a lousy 99 bucks for a HD player is not gonna buy discs - they'll be rentals only and since there are few rentals out there so far... I expect those cheap players to mostly sit on the shelves. Especially since they're based on an inferior format. Cheap stuff is for cheap customers and you get what you pay for.

[br85]

Studios (like warner, fox, and disney) are hardly so fickle as to back a format that is literally throwing millions of players and discs at the market for free screaming like crazed psychopaths, "SEE?!? OUR FORMAT IS WINNING! LOOK HOW MANY HD DVDs THERE ARE!!! HAHAHA!" and losing billions of dollars in the process.

I don't know if it's against the rules to paste this into multiple threads but it really needs to be driven home.

[Deane Johnson]

This $98 player thing is very limited and not going to last long. My local Wal-marts don't even have a clue about it. The local Best Buys have none, the nearest Best Buy with one is 200 miles away.

I hardly think this brief promotion is going to make a blip on the high def radar screen.

[SpikesBluBlooded]

As this is not a neutral site, it may be a good thing to ask yourself before posting: What will the response be, and will I be made to look like a fanboy? Hard not to do when being neutral, but it might help when thinking about the responses you will receive while you're typing...

[Living Near Shamu]

Originally Posted by elwaylite

Dang. Just tried to buy one and every BBuy within 100 miles is out. Have to keep watch on Amazon,Wally World and CCity.

Hehehe. All the stores here still have them in stock but i'm not buying one, lol.

[WickyWoo]

People keep treating this thing like it's A- Sustainable and B- going longer than 72 hours

It costs over $300 a player to build HD DVD. So if they have a 1000:1+ attach rate, then it's practical

Until then, it's simply Toshiba's version of BOGO to try to deflate Pixar a bit

[thrlride]

Originally Posted by CptGreedle

Think of it this way.. Toshiba has to sell about 4 or 5 times more HD-DVD players to make the same money BD makers would, except that the A2 is making them loose money on each unit sold so they will not make any profit from this.

These ARE the beginning death throws of HD-DVD. If WB can make this phenomenal announcement soon, we will show HD-DVD that cheap @$$ players mean squat!

HD-DVD needs only to double the players with the current attach rate to equal blu-ray. You are right though, I have no idea how they are bank rolling this or justifying the risk.

[roachxp]

More like Toshiba has declared war on DVD players, Walmart can go down to $50 for the A2 before they are at cost.

[Amel]

oh god

can someone make this a front page sticky

some of you guys need to search first, please do us all a favor

[thrlride]

Originally Posted by SpikesBluBlooded

As this is not a neutral site, it may be a good thing to ask yourself before posting: What will the response be, and will I be made to look like a fanboy? Hard not to do when being neutral, but it might help when thinking about the responses you will receive while you're typing...

Yeah, that may be a losing battle. I'm told being neutral is worse than choosing sides or not choosing at all.

[GaS]

Originally Posted by Wet1

I'm now neutral.

I just grabbed a A2 for $99 from BB. With the 5 free mail-in movies, plus the 2 more of your choice instore or online, there's no way I could sit out any longer. That works out to $14.29 for the 7 movie and they threw in a free POS A2 HD-DVD player.

The BDA needs to do something... or the train just might pass them by.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1158323325814


I'll buy DUD software only if there's something I really want, or if it's super low price, I might rent a few as well. Then again, I'm really pulling back on my BR software purchases these days too until this stupid war looks to be coming to an end.

OK, we get it, you are neutral. How many threads must you post this in?

[Paladin]

Originally Posted by BigB88

Microsoft was and I believe still is selling the Zune at a loss, they also sold the XBOX at a loss initially as do other companies initially introduce product at a loss to gain market share - common practice. Game over.. I'm sorry but you really don't know what your talking about. I won't be responding to any more of this, it just seems that your simply trying to fan the flames of the discussion.

You shouldn't really say things like that, other wise you could end up looking like a fool.

Zune and Xbox can sell at a loss, as once a person buys those items are are stuck buying things from MS that will make up from the loss. (Zune Market place and Xbox games.)

What incentive does all the CE companies have for selling at a loss? They don't get a cut of the disk sales, there isn't a subscription service that they can charge people monthly for? For them selling at a loss is not an option. Toshiba can sell at a loss and hope to make it back in Royalties.

Paladin

[The Shrike]

Originally Posted by Phatferd

Wal-Mart is doing a special sale tomorrow morning at 8:00am. They will be offering a $99 Toshiba HD-DVD player (the 1080i one). So many people are going to be pissed when they find out it's 1080i and they cannot buy movies like Pirates, Ratatouille, Spider-Man, etc... They will just see the price and HD and think it's a great deal.

SOMEBODY... ****ING... SHOOT ME.

[elwaylite]

Originally Posted by Living Near Shamu

Hehehe. All the stores here still have them in stock but i'm not buying one, lol.

Hehe.

Im willing to bet if BBuy dropped it early, they all will by this evening to try and beat Wally World to the punch.

[JYD59]

The type of crowd that is interested in High Def is a) generally more knowledgable than typical consumers, and b) more upscale as well.

So why would someone pay $200 for a cheap HD-DVD player that can never do as much as Blu-ray can, and also have fewer titles to play, on a Home Theatre system with a 1080p set that generally costs almost 10x more than the player?

Its like when Mercedes-Benz introduced a more affordable model years ago...it tanked, and the existing customer base sharply criticized Mercedes for cheapening the brand.

[BigB88]

Originally Posted by Paladin

I think many people miss the fact that HD DVD has a lot of catch-up to do, and one Holiday season isn't going to do it. Look, Transformers HD DVD couldn't even win them a week, and it wasn't even up against an A list Blu Ray release. Blu Ray won the week with catalog titles. In order for them to make an impact, they'll need to move a ton of these BEFORE Christmas and not as Christmas presents. If they all wind up as Christmas presents they won't have an impact in movie sales until after Christmas.

They also have to sell more players then PS3s, and it looks like the PS3s are having a hot Christmas this year.

Paladin

They are not trying to "catch-up", they are trying to survive and keep going. HD-DVD was never there to overcome Blu-ray, it is now only trying to survive and we can see this by the prices of some of their crappy players. My point has been that the BDA seems to be content with their (HD-DVD) survival and doesn't seem to mind that keeping the status quo for the next year or beyond is okay. I don't think this makes for a sound business strategy. Have you noticed that when HD-DVD responds or sets a trend, they try to do it in a big way? Paramount/DW...$98 or $169 Players, etc. But normally the BDA's response to these BIG moves is these smaller BOGO or just stay with the status quo? It is time for the BDA to do their jobs and make a BIG SPLASH of their own to counter these clowns NOW and end this thing.

[br85]

Guys. Seriously don't worry about these $98 players!!!

Studios (like warner, fox, and disney) are hardly so fickle as to back a format that is literally throwing millions of players and discs at the market for free screaming like crazed psychopaths, "SEE?!? OUR FORMAT IS WINNING! LOOK HOW MANY HD DVDs THERE ARE!!! HAHAHA!" and losing billions of dollars in the process.

I don't know if it's against the rules to paste this into multiple threads but it really needs to be driven home.

[E-Dogg]

Originally Posted by iceperson

Feel free to search AVS for my posts (same username), I've been beating down HD-DVD fanboys over there for months. That doesn't change the fact that Blu-ray needs a low-cost player that people can pickup for second and third units for rooms that might not have reference level equipment. For instance, I have a cheap 32" hd lcd in my bedroom that I'd love to be able to watch my blu-ray titles on, but for $400 it's not worth it.

I think Blu-Ray needs a player around the $350 price point. Anything lower than that I think would be interpreted as cheap like all of HD-DVD 1080i players and not worth squat.