I think that Toshiba is giving away their HD-A2's, at >$100, is a desparate attempt to keep Warner from jumping ship. Earlier this week we heard that Warner is going to look at the sales numbers this 4th quarter and is going to decide which way to swing. I'm guessing that they are going to look at their Harry Potter series as their catalyst in making their decision. And if Toshiba expects J6P, with his brand new $99 HD-DVD player, to go out and start buying up movies they are sadly mistaken. You can't expect J6P to bargain shop for a $99 HD-DVD player then turn around and spend $130 on the Harry Potter series.
I think that Toshiba is giving away their HD-A2's, at >$100, is a desparate attempt to keep Warner from jumping ship. Earlier this week we heard that Warner is going to look at the sales numbers this 4th quarter and is going to decide which way to swing. I'm guessing that they are going to look at their Harry Potter series as their catalyst in making their decision. And if Toshiba expects J6P, with his brand new $99 HD-DVD player, to go out and start buying up movies they are sadly mistaken. You can't expect J6P to bargain shop for a $99 HD-DVD player then turn around and spend $130 on the Harry Potter series.
NICE FIRST POST~ and I can't help but admire the "I do Blu!" in your sig line...
one of the best first posts ive ever seen. you hit the nail on the head, J6P might just pay 98 bucks for hardware, but he isn't going to shell out 30 bucks on movies or like you said 3 digits on stuff like harry potter, hes going to simply watch his dvds upconverted on his sanyo hdtv and say, wow! this does look better, and simply not know what he's missing with hd dvd, or simply won't care, because hd dvds are expensive and this dvd upconversion stuff is good enough. hd dvd really is the look and sound of good enough, and thats whats going to kill it, becaus j6p thinks upconverted dvds are good enough.
one of the best first posts ive ever seen. you hit the nail on the head, J6P might just pay 98 bucks for hardware, but he isn't going to shell out 30 bucks on movies or like you said 3 digits on stuff like harry potter, hes going to simply watch his dvds upconverted on his sanyo hdtv and say, wow! this does look better, and simply not know what he's missing with hd dvd, or simply won't care, because hd dvds are expensive and this dvd upconversion stuff is good enough. hd dvd really is the look and sound of good enough, and thats whats going to kill it, becaus j6p thinks upconverted dvds are good enough.
so why buy the HDDVD player and not just an upconverting DVD player?
edit: although i guess at 98 bucks they are a similar price so may as well buy the HDDVD player for that "i might someday when prices come down" type of thing
Lol..........Maybe I'll get a surprise I wasnt expecting!!...But as far as movies are concerned she knows to get Blu...She bought The Prestige & Dejavu for the BOGO and before that it was Rocky and We Are Marshall so she's on the right track.
After my Anniversary dinner where can I get 2001 and Spidey3??There's a WM, BB, and Target within 3 miles of each other. Who has the best shot of having both??
After my Anniversary dinner where can I get 2001 and Spidey3??There's a WM, BB, and Target within 3 miles of each other. Who has the best shot of having both??
The BBy in my area (NW FL) had both....in fact it has expanded its BD selection again
I wonder what areas these walmarts are in because my local super walmart just recently started carrying the A-2 and its priced at $300 now and its right next to the bdp-s300 for $488. Now the under $100 HD-DVD players are good for HD-DVD camp, BUT I don't think it will have too much of an affect if the majority of consumers can't find movies they want on that format .
I went in my walmart today to check their High Def movie section after class and they actually moved their selection to an endcap and expanded it as well. It went from 2 columns each to 5 blu columns and the same 2 for red. Just looking at that endcap any consumer can easily look and see how things are going. And I also asked one of the associates there just to see how sales are going and he said that Warner might be going blu exclusive!! I was very impressed...told him thanks for the info and keep it up and left
if HD DVD was such a great format, then why the need to pretty much give it away, er because people arent buying it. How many times have tosh revised there player sales!!.
If and when HD DVD was on death row, player price crash was the last chance to save the format. that time has come
by the way bill hunt had a great take on this.
Quote:
MY TWO CENTS - 11/1/07 - by Digital Bits editor Bill Hunt
How in the world does Toshiba think it's ever going to make any money from the HD-DVD format? I mean, seriously.
You may have heard by now that Toshiba has made pre-Black Friday arrangements with Wal-Mart to effectively dump its HD-A2 HD-DVD player starting this Friday (this weekend only) for just $98.87. You may also have heard that Best Buy has followed suit. Supplies are limited, of course, and the offer is apparently not valid in some parts of the country that have state anti-dumping laws.
Wikipedia defines dumping as "the act of a manufacturer in one country exporting a product to another country at a price which is either below the price it charges in its home market or is below its costs of production." Toshiba's move isn't really anti-competitive, because there are no U.S. manufacturers making HD-DVD players. But it's that "below its costs of production" part that applies in this case. The HD-A2 arrived in the States with an original MSRP of $499.99. Now, Toshiba is letting it go for just $99. There's no way the player cost less than $100 to manufacturer. Just. No. Way.
You might wonder: How can Toshiba possibly have enough HD-A2s left to sell at just $99 at large, nationwide retailers? Simple. It's because they didn't sell originally, so plenty of stores still have them sitting on shelves, gathering dust. Toshiba is eager to clear them all out at this point, and Wal-Mart and Best Buy are happy to help.
Clearly, the HD-DVD camp understands that low price is really the only card they have left to play in this format war. Porn hasn't won the war for them as predicted, nor have online bells and whistles, or combo discs/players. The obvious question would be: Why in the world would any other hardware manufacturer want to join Toshiba's foolhardy strategy of driving player prices down to next to nothing? It's no accident that not a single other major manufacturer has released a stand-alone HD-DVD player (and no, the Venturer doesn't count). Given how dramatically Toshiba has slashed prices on HD-DVD players over the last year, you have to wonder how long they can keep losing money.
Forget for a moment that the HD-A2 isn't capable of delivering full 1080p video - that doesn't matter. Why? Because anyone who is so price sensitive that they wait until a high-def player price hits $99 to buy one isn't likely to have an HDTV set yet. Being super bargain shoppers, they aren't likely to want to pay $30 for an HD-DVD movie either. I'd bet many of the people who jump on this sale will either be using them primarily as upconverting DVD players, or they're already diehard HD-DVD supporters and are buying them as second players. For those regular consumers who take the bait, I wonder how they'll feel when they realize they can't play those big Disney titles in the "blu" boxes due next week.
Speaking of which... a couple weeks ago, when Disney and Sony launched the successful strategy of counter-selling their Blu-ray software titles 2 for 1 the same week Paramount and DreamWorks released Transformers on HD-DVD, we got a few e-mails from HD-DVD fans telling us how lame that was. Is it any accident that Toshiba didn't wait for Black Friday to sell their $99 players, instead carefully planning the 3-day sale for the weekend before Disney and Pixar release Cars, Ratatouille and the Pixar Short Films Collection on Blu-ray? Not a chance. So Toshiba is slashing HD-DVD hardware prices to counteract the release of blockbuster Blu-ray software. What does that tell you about the viability of HD-DVD going into a fourth quarter that, by all accounts, is make or break for the format? (Especially with Warner Home Video now hinting that they're looking at the fourth quarter to "reevaluate" their dual format support)
There's no doubt that thousands of eager consumers will get a deal on cheap hardware this weekend. But it still isn't going to be the format war winner for HD-DVD that some would like to believe. On the contrary, it means that Toshiba is getting desperate enough to adopt an all-or-nothing strategy... and is going even more deeply into the red with this format. Meanwhile, given the strength of their rhetoric this week, it's a safe bet that the Blu-ray camp will pull their gloves off too in the fourth quarter, and start getting more aggressive in the weeks and months ahead.
It boggles the mind to think that any reasonable person can still believe at this point that the HD-DVD format represents a viable long-term business. Even if Toshiba's strategy has the desired effect (which seems primarily to be garnering splashy headlines in the press), what do they ultimately win? A tie? The best case for HD-DVD, even if Warner were to be so impressed by this sale that they go HD exclusive, would be to effectively create a 50/50 split in terms of studio support. In other words, a total quagmire. High prices were the number one reason most surveyed consumers cited for staying away from high-def discs in the recent NPD Group survey, but the existence of two competing formats was not far behind. And just as many people who said that price was their chief concern also said that they're happy enough with current DVD to have no interest in upgrading to high-def discs anyway. So all this seems to be more a battle waged for the press and PR spin than the actual hearts and minds of consumers.
Keep in mind, contrary to the opinions of some online, we don't think HD-DVD is a bad format at all. If it were the only HD format around, we'd be all over it here at The Bits. But Toshiba is effectively paying studios to support it, and now they're practically giving the hardware and software away. Do you suppose we'll see free HD-DVD player offers in Cracker Jacks and cereal boxes next? $50 players? $25 players? 2 for 1 players?
Experienced fighter pilots will tell you that when you dive your aircraft at the deck, you very quickly run out of maneuvering room. It seems to me that the ground is coming up awfully fast for HD-DVD. Either way, it's looking more and more as if this fourth quarter could decide the format war... one way or another.
And to think... there was once a time when we all hoped that these two sides would work out their differences and create a single, unified high-def disc format. Those were the days, as they say.
I read Bill hunt's post after my initial post. He makes a lot of great points! I especially liked the beginning when he talks about the anti-dumping laws.
OH BTW if you are going to preorder the Potter Series don't forget about the Oceans 11,12,13 series too, also a big Warner release too!
That's what I've been saying. To think this war will be won by people with tight budgets is crazy!
The demographic that the $98 player fits is perfectly happy with their DVDs. It will be us, the HD obsessed, that need to resist this 1080i Trojan Horse piece of sh*t.
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It's all about Warner!
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!! I was very impressed...told him thanks for the info and keep it up and left
Yes it is all about Warner!
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