Now it's finally the Death of HD- Per Walmart...........?

[Bill H.]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080215/bs_nm/walmart_dvd_dc_5;_ylt=AsZiU0tNhIPaaxXIg_oiP68E1vAI

[RichardP]

I just saw this too. Not exactly the consumer or end user that decides on what gets adopted, as it seemed to be with VHS-Beta, it's the retailer. Or in this case, the largest retailer in the world. Walmart: the 500-lb gorilla.

In one sense, they may have just eliminated several years of indecision and waffling in one fell swoop.

[Guest srobak]

YAHD/BRFT

[Bill H.]

Please Translate that last Post , Please...................

[White_Hawk]

BRFTW would be be "blueray for the win"... but of course there is no "w" there.

[Champagne taste beer budget]

Yeah Ah Heard Dat/Blue Ray Forever Theking ???

I usually feel pretty good about my acronym deciphering sklills but I gotta admit defeat on this one.

[Bill H.]

Translated to "Yea heard that before"

Much nicer than REPOST.....................Thank you. Sorbak.

[Professor Thump]

It probably was decided by the fact that most people favor the color of Blue. Just like the reason manufacturers crank the blue on their TV's. People certainly don't realize the issues at hand with the differences technically.

I am just hoping that there is a final decision so we can see prices come down to reality and more media available in a HD format.

"Why can't we all just get along." If the majors had agreed early on then the consumers would have opened their pocket books up.

[Guest srobak]

Yet Another Hi Def [DVD] / Blue Ray Fight Thread heheh

Thump - I was actually thinking that once/if Toshiba makes the announcement that we could expect to see BR players go UP in price, not down... at least for a little while - so there can be a little bit of recouping of losses from the format battle. Of course once more manufacturers start jumping in with BR decks as a result of the "market decision" - that will bring prices back down, but as the competion was between formats and not so much brands on same format - there is nothing keeping those prices down once Toshi pulls the plug.

[customsteve01]

I know this will be a crippling blow to Toshiba but Wally World really doesn't have a good selection of either formats. At least not the stores I have been in. I am comparing this with the selection that Best Buy have for both formats.

Steve

[Buckeye_Nut]

Not exactly the consumer or end user that decides on what gets adopted, as it seemed to be with VHS-Beta, it's the retailer. Or in this case, the largest retailer in the world.

Just exactly how do you think retailers decide which products get shelf space? It's consumer demand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Retailers will only stock product that maximizes their sales.

What you are witnessing is the perfect example of market demand at work and how these forces determine which products are awarded such valuable shelf space. HD-DVD has been getting destroyed both in sales ### and $$$, and it was only a matter of time before retailers reallocated their shelf space accordingly. The customer HAS SPOKEN, and what you're seeing is the retail response to those demands.

[Buckeye_Nut]

Thump - I was actually thinking that once/if Toshiba makes the announcement that we could expect to see BR players go UP in price, not down... at least for a little while - so there can be a little bit of recouping of losses from the format battle. Of course once more manufacturers start jumping in with BR decks as a result of the "market decision" - that will bring prices back down, but as the competion was between formats and not so much brands on same format - there is nothing keeping those prices down once Toshi pulls the plug.

You got it half right.....

No real large scale adoption can begin until HD-DVD throws in the towel. Right now there are more than a dozen BD player manufacturers and that number is increasing on a weekly basis. Most have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for an outcome, but now they'll be entering the market by the bunches. BD will now focus on chipping away at DVD demand, and as more manufacturers enter the fray.........the market will mature at a much quicker rate!!

I have been very impressed by the efficiency of this format war compared to those in the past. Considering this format war is less than 2 years old........they've evolved well beyond the point of both VCR and DVD and where they were at this point after initial launch.

Very soon, expect the last 2 studio holdouts to announce blu......and when that happens.....blu-evolution will hit hyper drive.

[Fish]

Bye HD,glad I stayed out of this one till the dust settles.Toshiba officially threw in the towel.

[RichardP]

Not exactly the consumer or end user that decides on what gets adopted, as it seemed to be with VHS-Beta, it's the retailer. Or in this case, the largest retailer in the world.

Just exactly how do you think retailers decide which products get shelf space? It's consumer demand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Retailers will only stock product that maximizes their sales.

What you are witnessing is the perfect example of market demand at work and how these forces determine which products are awarded such valuable shelf space. HD-DVD has been getting destroyed both in sales ### and $$$, and it was only a matter of time before retailers reallocated their shelf space accordingly. The customer HAS SPOKEN, and what you're seeing is the retail response to those demands.

If, in fact, Blue Ray sales (discs and players) have far surpassed that
of HDDVD, then the end user consumer was partly responsible. If there
was no real sales difference, then the studios and retailers were
responsible. I think the studios, by selecting one format, strongly
influenced sales. For most end user consumers, the two formats were
essentially undifferentiated (technically), and only the availability
of movies in a specific format (determined by the studios) was a basis
for choosing one format over another. Maybe Walmart just saw the
writing on the wall, and made a decision.

[customsteve01]

I guess it won't be long till the HD-DVD movies that are already out will be a dime a dozen. []

Steve

[wsu99999]

When it is official that HD-DVD is deal, do you think the prices will drop significantly on all of their movies and players, or do you think they will jump due to the fact that they won't be availible everywhere? I'm a huge HD-DVD supporter, but own both formats. I prefer HD-DVD over Blu significantly!

[mas]

The retail outlets will simply close them out. They are not in the collectables business.

Collectors and the Ebay marketmay fluctuate, but considering thqt the studios will be releasing them on BluRay, I can't imagine why someone would pay extra for an HD-DVD version.

BluRay proices will not go down at all. The fact that they could not drop the prices when they were in the midst of a format war should provide ample indication that they will have less pressure to do so now. But I do get a kick out of so many predicting their drop in price now that they have 'won' - when competitive pressure is all but removed! Any one predicting that must be on leave from the Sony mismarketing team.

That combined with the only sales going to result from vendors trying to dump old version ('profile') machines, of which the version that was originally intended to be released at the formats introduction to the retail market (which Sony STILL hasn't gotten around to!!!!) which is now called "profile 2" which will not be available until October 2008 (per the announcement 2 months ago).

So the prudent steps now would be

1.) look for closeouts of HD-DVD software - if you already have the player.

2.) WAIT! Wait until a future oriented BR player becomes available, and avoid the first release of the network connected profile 2 players. And then shop based upon reliability and price.

Sony has no reason to reduce prices yet until they recoup their initial non-recurring R&D costs. This is fundamental business economics. The base price will be set by Sony licensing and the base cost of components and maufacturing costs. What little price decrease occurs will be both as a result of Sony's ability to recover their development costs (which have been SUBSTANTIAL) and of the small amount of margin the various manufacturers have in leveraging their sourcing economics and via adjusting their small margin.

It is ironic that the really critical phase of the 'format war' has only just begun. The fight was not really between HD and BR, although that confusion certainly did not help from the point of view of the average consumer - and still has alientated many to not even consider the HD format.! But now BR must convince the HUGE stanard DVD market, complete with commodity priced upscaling DVD players to spend lots of money on high priced playuers and media that costs 2-3 times more than a standard DVD.

And the only way to do this is toreduce the price of the HD players and media to a VERY competitive price point relative to standard DVDs.

With their inability to do so to this point when the very existence of the format was at issue, why do I not anticipate this happening within a time frame sufficient to become a dominant format relative to the standard DVD market, and the increasing momentum to deliver HD content online...

BR is here, but I suspect it will remain a niche market due to Sony's inability to bring a mature product to market in a timely fashion at a competitive price. Had they delivered 5-6 years ago when the hype began, sure. But now, with emerging market drivers, Sony's victory will remain a largely Pyrrhic victory - with significant market pressure to increase efficiencies and to reduce supply chain costs imposing weighty pressure on the hardware deliverables market as a whole...which should be obvious by NO OTHER entities even expressing interest in expanding any type of hardware deliverables capability - and with the entire industry running in exactly the opposite direction.

[oldbuckster]

I bet Wally's World and Best Box will reduce prices to clear their stock out, just like Wally's World did with that promo before Christmas, $89.00 Toshiba HD-DVD with 5 free movies ............. I think any of the Big stores will do that, Circuit City included ... time will tell ... They will not swallow their stock, they won't ..........

[Joe Auwen]

Appears Toshiba is preparing to make the announcement that will officially end it:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aoLRzpBuyaG4&refer=asia

[dougdrake]

Goodbye HD DVD - we hardly knew ye...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080218/bs_nm/dvd_toshiba_nand_dc_1