Wal-Mart Needs Our Help!

[ReduxInflux]

CRUCIAL: Should we be concentrating our purchasing efforts at Wal-Mart???

first off: okay, so there have been rumors about BLU-RAY (not HD-DVD) players that might be showing up in wal-mart. i'll believe it when josh posts it, but for now, i do not. now that that's out on the table, read on:

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Format Backers Say Hardware Coming Before End of Year
By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 8/24/2007

With much fanfare, the HD DVD Promotional Group announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January that Chinese manufacturers would begin selling low-price HD DVD players in the U.S. this year.

But as of mid-August, no manufacturer or retailer has announced a firm date for the players, although HD DVD backers say they still believe players will arrive this year.

Ken Graffeo, Universal Studios Home Entertainment executive VP of marketing and head of high definition, said he hasn’t heard a confirmed release date for the players.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we see them by the end of the year,” Warner Home Video senior VP worldwide for high-definition Steve Nickerson said.

HD DVD backers are betting low prices on players will sway the format war in their favor and Chinese manufacturers would help bring in even lower-priced players.

Wal-Mart, which had been rumored to be considering bringing in low-cost HD DVD players from a Chinese manufacturer, isn’t talking about its plans.

In an e-mail response to a question about the mass merchant’s fourth-quarter high-definition plans and whether it will bring in players from Chinese manufacturers this year, a spokeswoman said, “We are still evaluating the situation and not making a decision to go solely with one over the other right now. Ultimately, the decision comes down to providing what the customer really wants. At Wal-Mart, we will continue to sell both DVD formats at compelling prices and let the consumer clearly vote with their purchases on which format wins out.”

Other retailers said they haven’t heard anything about possible players from Chinese manufacturers coming this year.

Value Electronics president Robert Zohn said he has contacted some Chinese manufacturers that are making Blu-ray Disc players and HD DVD players, but he doesn’t expect to bring any in this year because of concerns about player compliance.

“We don’t want to import products that don’t meet specs,” he said.

Zohn said he thinks that major retailers such as Wal-Mart are likely to be the first to bring in low-cost players because they have more resources to make sure players are compliant.

[dialog_gvf]

Wow, does Zohn seem unusually balanced in that interview?

He's contacted the Chinese about HD DVD and Blu-ray, and he's concerned about spec compliance for both.

The critical issue is profitability. Wal-mart isn't in it for Toshiba and Microsoft, they are in it for Wal-mart. Can anyone make a $199 player profitably?

Gary

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Wow, does Zohn seem unusually balanced in that interview?

He's contacted the Chinese about HD DVD and Blu-ray, and he's concerned about spec compliance for both.

The critical issue is profitability. Wal-mart isn't in it for Toshiba and Microsoft, they are in it for Wal-mart. Can anyone make a $199 player profitably?

Gary

Yes. On both sides. The Blu-ray will be more profitable and therefore more popular as it doesn't require dual stream decoding yet. Remember as long as you announce before Oct. 31st you get a bye.

[NutsAboutPS3]

Aren't Wal-Mart disc purchases excluded from the Nielsen numbers?

[GarettP]

I bought my PS3 at the local Wal-Mart, but they don't stock any Blu-ray's or HD-DVD's.

[ReduxInflux]

Originally Posted by GarettP

I bought my PS3 at the local Wal-Mart, but they don't stock any Blu-ray's or HD-DVD's.

you know....i think they do. last time i went, i had a very difficult time finding them...i almost left thinking the same. but i did eventually find them. not very many...but they were there in the middle of their sd dvd stock with no attention grabbing displays to hint at their existence. try again call em up and ask...

[ReduxInflux]

Originally Posted by NutsAboutPS3

Aren't Wal-Mart disc purchases excluded from the Nielsen numbers?

that sounds weird...but lets say for the sake of argument - yes. what does it matter? wal-mart is one of the biggest. retailers. ever. they're waiting for us, the consumer, to decide what we want and they will stock their inventory accordingly...hinting at possible exclusivity. if we buy blu-rays from them, thereby taking part in the hi-def political process, they will see that the demand for blu-rays in their store is higher and will then be compelled to go bd exclusive - simplifying the market for everyone.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

Yes. On both sides. The Blu-ray will be more profitable and therefore more popular as it doesn't require dual stream decoding yet. Remember as long as you announce before Oct. 31st you get a bye.

You'd have to convince me. Give me bill of materials and add manufacturing, distribution and warranty costs. And include profit margins for wholesale and retail levels.

Show me a retail under $199.

Actually, I thought any player MANUFACTURED after Oct 31. must be Profile 1.1 compliant.

Gary

[NutsAboutPS3]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Actually, I thought any player MANUFACTURED after Oct 31. must be Profile 1.1 compliant.

No, only newly introduced models. This is why they have all been getting new models announced, so they can have new profile 1.0 players to sell after October. It wouldn't surprise me if it took quite some time to see mainstream 1.1 players.

[raginranger]

I went to Wal-Mart today and bought Bridge to Terabithia on blu-ray. They had about 12 blu-rays and 6 hd-dvds. The high-def discs were in their new releases section. Even more encouraging is that they were selling the Sony S300 blu-ray player, and weren't selling any hd-dvd players.

[BluBerry]

Originally Posted by ReduxInflux

HD DVD backers are betting low prices on players will sway the format war in their favor and Chinese manufacturers would help bring in even lower-priced players.

This is truely hilarious. First, I would never help Wal-Mart in any way, shape or form. Second, this is old news, and it's also irrelevant. This is one of the reasons HD-DVD will never survive the format war. The more they slash HD-DVD player prices, the lower the profit margin, and consequently the more discouraged other hardware manufacturers will be from making new HD-DVD hardware of their own. HD-DVD will only hurt itself by selling bargain-basement players in Wal-Mart.

[TruBlu2]

Originally Posted by ReduxInflux

CRUCIAL: Should we be concentrating our purchasing efforts at Wal-Mart???

first off: okay, so there have been rumors about BLU-RAY (not HD-DVD) players that might be showing up in wal-mart. i'll believe it when josh posts it, but for now, i do not. now that that's out on the table, read on:

-----------------------------------------------------------------


Format Backers Say Hardware Coming Before End of Year
By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 8/24/2007

With much fanfare, the HD DVD Promotional Group announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January that Chinese manufacturers would begin selling low-price HD DVD players in the U.S. this year.

But as of mid-August, no manufacturer or retailer has announced a firm date for the players, although HD DVD backers say they still believe players will arrive this year.

Ken Graffeo, Universal Studios Home Entertainment executive VP of marketing and head of high definition, said he hasn’t heard a confirmed release date for the players.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we see them by the end of the year,” Warner Home Video senior VP worldwide for high-definition Steve Nickerson said.

HD DVD backers are betting low prices on players will sway the format war in their favor and Chinese manufacturers would help bring in even lower-priced players.

Wal-Mart, which had been rumored to be considering bringing in low-cost HD DVD players from a Chinese manufacturer, isn’t talking about its plans.

In an e-mail response to a question about the mass merchant’s fourth-quarter high-definition plans and whether it will bring in players from Chinese manufacturers this year, a spokeswoman said, “We are still evaluating the situation and not making a decision to go solely with one over the other right now. Ultimately, the decision comes down to providing what the customer really wants. At Wal-Mart, we will continue to sell both DVD formats at compelling prices and let the consumer clearly vote with their purchases on which format wins out.”

Other retailers said they haven’t heard anything about possible players from Chinese manufacturers coming this year.

Value Electronics president Robert Zohn said he has contacted some Chinese manufacturers that are making Blu-ray Disc players and HD DVD players, but he doesn’t expect to bring any in this year because of concerns about player compliance.

“We don’t want to import products that don’t meet specs,” he said.

Zohn said he thinks that major retailers such as Wal-Mart are likely to be the first to bring in low-cost players because they have more resources to make sure players are compliant.

GOOD NEWS:

At my Super Walmart, they have begun to sell BD players and NO hddvd players. Also, when they started selling BD and hddvd's they had 5 columns in the case for each format. For the last 4 months they now have 8 columns for BD discs and 2 columns for hddvd. BD is kicking hddvd butt at my Walmart!!