HD-DVD Player sales reach 150,000! (1 Viewer)

[Bob Black]

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070611/aqm077.html?.v=9

This info has been all over the net today. Seems the recent Toshiba rebate promotion has led to 50,000 player sales in less than 2 months! They have also seen a big incease in software as a result. "At the same time, high definition movie sales for HD DVD reached an all time high for the month of May, exceeding 75,000 movies the last week of May alone."

Very good news for the format.

 

[Paul Arnette]

Yes, the players are becoming so cheap it is almost impossible for a knowledgeable consumer to ignore Toshiba's entry-level model if they have an HDTV and are in need of a upconverting DVD player. That is the position I found myself in recently with our 720p HDTV in the family room. Crutchfield's $199.99 snafu on the HD-A2 became a 'no-brainer' upgrade for that set.

Now I have a Toshiba HD-XA2 and a HD-A2. I had previously sold my HD-A1. What's interesting about this is that I just personally accounted for three of the 150,000 HD DVD players sold. I wonder what percentage of these purchases are HT ethusiasts who are 'double-dipping'. Sure, it may be great for player sales, but if it is a large porition, you may see attach rates drop. Still there's no denying this is good news for Toshiba and HD DVD, so please don't infer that I'm trying to 'rain on their parade'. It just got me thinking literally as I typed this.

 

[Kyle McKnight]

Got in by under an hour on the Crutchfield $199 price. I hope it's honored.

 

[ppltd]

Is it possible you meant weeks, not months. The Toshiba promo has only been going on a few weeks.

 

[Ryan Peddle]

It will be interesting to see if the sales continue to be strong or increase possibly from word of mouth.

From a Canadian perspective as of today June 15, 2007, we have only started to see the price drops. I purchased my HDA2 last week for $479CAD but today the price has dropped down to $349.99 (obviously I will take advantage of the price guarantee).

But now that it is happening here in Canada, the numbers may increase again.

And the cheapest Bluray player is $599.99 Sony model that isn't released yet, all other models are $999.

 

[Colin Dunn]

The "instant rebate" deal got me off the fence, and I just ordered an HD-XA2 from VE. It'll be a couple weeks before I get it, because of the product shortages this promotion has created...

Now, off to find some HD-DVDs to get so I can try out the player when it arrives...

 

[Paul Mor]

Someone should forward this to the decision makers at Blockbuster.

I understand that the rental breakdown has been 70-30 in favor of Blu-Ray, but most of the people who took advantage of Toshiba's rebate will never get a chance to rent from a Blockbuster store.

the rest of my rant is for another thread.

 

[MattFini]

I'm pretty disappointed in all of the recent developments (BB and Starz Entertainment), but I've decided to keep on purchasing discs.

I've already put enough money into it that I may as well enjoy it, and also I figure the only way HD-DVD can pull ahead is if people actually support it.

 

[Tim Glover]

Same here Matt! To the end! (or the end of my pocket book)