Walmart HD-DVD Impact (1 Viewer)

[Edwin-S]

I read the articles connected to those links. Neither one actually contains any specific confirmation by Wal-Mart about a big HD DVD order. In fact, in the one article, a Wal-Mart spokesperson refused to comment at all about an order for Chinese HD DVD players. This stuff is all hot air to me until Wal-Mart actually puts out a specific press release confirming their order.

Also, I find it odd that Wal-Mart would suddenly come down on the side of HD DVD when they are stocking more BDs than HD DVDs.

 

[Norman Matthews]

I'm not saying they have, as the story is definitely flimsy at the moment, but the one thing Wal-Mart can always be counted on to do is come down on the side of cheap. So I wouldn't find it too surprising.

 

[ppltd]

Where have they stated they are stocking more BD's than HD's? I have two stores around my house. One stocks pretty equally, one doesn't care them at all. Are you making the statement based on your own experience or some Walmart press release?

 

[Tim Glover]

Besides studio exclusivity, I think spreading false BS or stuff thrown out as fear mongering has done more to give me a sour taste than anything else. I love Hi-def and I have loved HD DVD. I'm quite sure those with Blu-ray or those who have both feel the same. I cannot stand...it literally turns my stomach when members here and other places throw out stuff that is meant to discredit, misrepresent, and mislead.

It is possible if one wants to go all gung ho for a format to do this without downing the other guy or enjoy in the spreading of "rumored" bad press.

I once stated that for me at least, getting into HD DVD brought back some fun into buying films again and how I eagerly awaited that cool email from amazon...."we'd like you to know your order has shipped" ...that still remains fun. But on the other end when S__T gets tossed around like someone took someone's lunch money; it's rather silly.

I don't want to come across being holier than thou...those that know me know I am a real smart ass at heart. ...it can all be fun and I enjoy joining in some too but not when the intent is to discredit or misrepresent.

Sorry for the sermon, my dad was a minister for 40 years.

 

[BrettB]

It is fun again isn't it Tim? DVD had gotten so damn boring. Just don't take this stuff so seriously. Nothing wrong with some good-natured ribbing.

This is the first I've heard of the $450 RCA HD V5000 BDP. Anyone know anything about it? Wal-Mart's gonna be selling the Sony also, should be a pretty good price.

 

[Tim Glover]

I love good natured ribbing (I can do that with the best of them )...just hate intentional stuff meant to mislead. You know what I'm talking about.

Walmart & Target both need to get onboard with HD content.

 

[Shane Evers]

The Target near me carries both, perhaps a bit more BD.

The Circuit City used to have BD on a little stand and overflow in a "bucket", not anymore! Now there is a big Hi-Def sign with a huge area for BD.

 

[ScottFin]

I sincerely doubt the average HT enthusiast will want a $100 HD player on the shelf next to the $3,800 1080p 60" LCD wall-mounted monitor purchased less than a year ago. I think consumers, even Wal Mart ones have more smarts than that.
For non-enthusiasts, what's the point when the DVD player can stay on the half-barrel next to the SD TV?

 

[Tim Glover]

Maybe not next to that but Xbox HD DVD owners are using it with superb image results on monitors to projectors...and that was only a $175 addition.

If you're buying a Sanyo 42 Plasma at WMart for about $1200 then adding a less expensive HD DVD player will be very tempting.

 

[Chris S]

I'll still argue that anyones purchase into either format is going to be made on content and not player price. Especially not when the difference is only a $100-200 difference and they just spent $1,000+ on the set.

If Walmart does a good job in marketing the player (which I don't think they will but I'm very biased against the company for reasons that will require an entirely new thread) then it should be successful for them. Run King Kong or another big name action style movie in HD, making sure the images on the better sets looks really good, and they're very likely to move quite a few units.

With that said, I agree with Ron-P that the typical Walmart shopper may not be willing to pay the additional cost for the media. I would also suspect that the average Walmart customer would not be able to tell the difference between upconverted and HD. So they may be more likely to purchase an upconverting DVD player which is likely to be less than the HD-DVD player.

 

[Harminder]

I see a pro and con to this.

Pro: makes hi-def adoption MUCH cheaper! Hence, fast adoption.

Con: cheaper components used to build these cheaper players. Hence, much lower quality players (can give increased problems).

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

Assuming that this 'rumor' is real and Walmart has really decided to throw their marketing & financial support behind HD-DVD, it would be quite logical for them to also 'try' and compel all studios, big & small, to release to HD-DVD, would it not?

 

[Larry Sutliff]

I agree 100%, Tim.

 

[Douglas Monce]

I think your correct. Walmart is not just the largest retailer in the United States, its actually the worlds largest corporation! Electronics manufactures make models of television sets exclusively for Walmart. And Walmart has been known to play hardball with its product suppliers. They can and do dictate to other companies what products they will produce.

If Walmart told Sony they wanted them to produce HD DVDs, I think its very likely that Sony would cave and do it, as would Universal start making Blueray if they asked them to.

Of course this is all pure speculation because there is, so far no evidence that anything in this story is true.

Doug

 

[Austan]

I think that's a little to strong of statement... Walmart is your daddy when it comes to bulk merchandise such as food, clothing and disposables... But they can not controll a market like this...

 

[Douglas Monce]

Actually they can and do. They have been known to tell even major companies that they won't carry their products unless they play ball. I don't think any company wants to lose 40% of the U.S. market, not to mention the rest of the world.

Doug

 

[Ron-P]

Well, I hope I am but I just don't see this as the HD-DVD savior that a lot of people do from the posts that I've been reading. It's all about media support and pricing then it is the cost of the players.

Like I said, your average Wally shopper isn't going to Walmar to spend upwards of $30 on a movie, they are there for the $9.99 bins or less.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Especially when Wal*Mart sells quite a few Sony products, not to mention products from other major electronics manufacturers.

Let's face it; home theatre buffs are the audiophiles of the video world. We may want the best sound and picture going and will go to lengths others perceive as absurd, but victory belongs to the person who can take HD and put in a package that generates mass market interest. Most of us sneer at our buddies who own "home-theatre-in-a-box" packages, but these things sell like hotcakes because they bring a reasonable approximation of the theatre experience home in an affordable (and not overly complex)package. The company that succeeds in doing the same for HD will win the format war.

 

[Douglas Monce]

I disagree. I think the first one to get a stand alone player that is under $150 will probably win the format war. Exclusive studios not withstanding there is plenty of software support for both formats.

Much talk has been made about the price of the movies. But I really don't see that as an issue either. If you go into Walmart today, the new releases of special edition DVDs are around $20. Now I know lots of people keep saying the price of HD DVDs and Blueray discs is too much for the average consumer, but frankly I've never paid more than $25 for an HD DVD and most of them have been $19.95.

Doug

 

[Austan]

Walmart does have lots of influence on lots of products, but not all products. If they have that much control over Sony, then they can make them sell the PS3 for $399. Also could you tell Walmart to stop MS from forcing Vista on us??? and this global warming thing too...

Toilet paper, food, tupper ware... Yes you better play ball... Off brand electronics, you better be cheap enough to make it to the end caps. But high/mid end electronics are safe from the pressure...

There's also the consumer pressure on Walmart. If Walmart only stocked Cheap chinese electronics, then they would have bad public perception of them. Walmart also has to stock enough variety and mid/high end merchandise to keep the consumers coming back. Not everything they sell is the cheapest and not everything they sell is Great Value brand.

Walmart can not make Sony switch over to HD DVD.