Blu-ray Dominates Black-Friday (1 Viewer)

[PaulDA]

It is as close to "Black Friday" as it gets in Canada.

 

[Dave H]

For those complaining about Blu-ray BOGO sales, HD DVD has had their share, as well - let's not forget. I know because I have done several of them. Let's try not to let our format preferences get in the way of objectively viewing sales practices for both sides (including artificially reduced $90 player sales which had to have an affect Nielson numbers too).

 

[Jason Seaver]

No-one's complaining about them - just noting that their timing is almost comical, and that their primary goal often appears to be manipulating the sales charts, trying to "lie with statistics". I question whether it's a really useful thing to do, and I question whether either format should become the standard because they've managed to convinced people not that they should be the standard, but because they already are.

It's nothing new; Isaac Asimov wrote back in the seventies that books sell because they're best-sellers, and that if a novel wound up on the New York Times Best-sellers List by accident, it would become a best-seller by virtue of being anointed as such. Thirty years later, it seems like Sony and Toshiba have adopted something like this as their marketing strategy, and I kind of wish I could see as much effort going into competing on merit and value for money as I can see going into press releases declaring victories.

 

[ReggieW]

Dave,

I know amazon had a buy two get one free sale recently for HD & BD, but when has there ever been an HD-DVD bogo and from which studios?

 

[bigluigi]

Dave,
Why don't you tell us what you really think. I think that shroud of "objectivity" your wearing is full of holes. No one is complaining about Blu-ray BOGO sales as such...posters were merely commenting on the "timing" of those sales and their effect on weekly Nielson numbers. If I were to complain about BOGO sales it would be directed at the HD-DVD camp simply because they haven't had any. Grrrrrrrrrr!

 

[Patrick Sun]

I'm looking forward to the next BOGO sale next week when The Bourne Ultimatum on HD DVD is released.

 

[Bob Black]

I've owned HD DVD since April 15 of last year, and I have NEVER seen a BOGO for HD DVD movies anywhere! There was recently a Buy TWO, Get one free sale at amazon (and Blu-Ray participated simultaneously), but I've never seen a BOGO. There was also a 50% off sale for Magnolia titles on HD DVD AND Blu-Ray months ago on amazon, but both formats participated and Magnolia has about 3 titles on the market (I actually picked up World's Fastest Indian and The Architect simply because they were so fricken' cheap & I had never seen HD DVD movies at that price). Please elaborate on where this took place, 'cause it's news to me.

In terms of Blu-Ray's constant BOGO's and half-off (or more) sales, here's a list of the discounts that I could confirm;

1/12/07
BOGO @ Best Buy
House of Flying Daggers
Kung Fu Hustle
Black Hawk Down
Monster House
Click
Talladega Nights: Ballad Of Ricky Bobby
Underworld: Evolution

2/4/07 – 2/10/07
BOGO @ Best Buy
CLICK
UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION
MONSTER HOUSE
HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS
INTO THE BLUE
THE FIFTH ELEMENT

2/9/07 – 2/13/07
BOGO @ Fry’s
For $24.99
Click
Silent Hill
Underworld Evolution
Little Man
Monster House
The Benchwarmers
For $19.99
50 First Date
The Big Hit
House of Flying Dagger
THe Fifth Element
Hitch
A Knight's Tale
Into the Blue
Memento
Stealth
XXX
Black Hawk Down
Tears of the Sun*
SWAT
Resident Evil: Apocalypse

3/6/07
50% Off @ Amazon
47 Titles Including:
Alien vs Predator
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Resident Evil - Apocalypse
50 First Dates
Kingdom Of Heaven
Memento
Speed
Fifth Element
Entrapment
Phone
Behind Enemy Lines
Chain Reaction
The Marine
Hitch
One Last Thing

7/6/07 – 7/10/07
2/$25 @ Fry’s
Curse of the Golden Flower
Black Hawk Down
House of Flying Daggers
Hellboy
Layer Cake
Kung Fu Hustle
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Tears of the Sun
Identity
Stealth
Into the Blue
XXX
Big Fish
Memento
Donnie Brasco
Closer
Revenge
Hitch
Seven Years in Tibet
Cruel Intentions
Blazing Saddles
Full Metal Jacket
Unforgiven

10/01/07 – 10/20/07
BOGO @ FYE
Pirates of the Caribbean 1+2
Prestige
Apocalypto
Wild Hogs
Reign of Fire
Bridge to Terabithia
Déjà vu
GI Jane
Glory Road
Goal
Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back
King Arthur
The Queen
The Wild
Annapolis
The Lookout
Brothers Grimm
Casanova
The Great Raid

10/15 – 10/21
$9.99 @ Fry’s
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Fifth Element
Replacement Killers
A Few Good Men
Memoirs of a Geisha
Underworld
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
House of Flying Daggers
Hitch
Immortal Beloved
King Fu Hustle
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Tears of the Sun
Layer Cake
Curse of the Golden Flower
Donnie Brasco
Blackjawk Down
Hellboy
Wild Things
The Patriot

10/15/07 – 10/22/07
BOGO @ Deepdiscountdvd.com
Disney titles including:
Annapolis
Apocalypto
Bridge to Terabithia
Chicago
Chicken Little
Déjà vu
…and many more

10/15 – 10/21
BOGO @ Circuit City
INCLUDES:
Black Hawk Down
Finding Neverland
G.I. Jane
Haunted Mansion
House of Flying Daggers
Into the Blue
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
King Arthur
Knights Tale, A
Kung Fu Hustle
Layer Cake
Memento
Remember the Titans
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Stealth
Tears of the Sun
Annapolis
Apocalypto
Bridge to Terabithia
Brothers Grimm
Casanova
Casino Royale
Chicago
Chicken Little
Click
Dark Water
Deja Vu
Dinosaur
Eight Below
Enemy of the State
Flightplan
Glory Road
Gone in 60 Seconds
Great Raid, The
Guardian, The
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Invincible
Ladder 49
Lookout
Open Season
Pearl Harbor
Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest
Prestige, The
Primevil
Pursuit of Happyness
Queen, The
Reign of Fire
Rocky Balboa
Silent Hill
Sky High
Stranger than Fiction
Talladega Nights
Ultraviolet
Underworld Evolution
Wild Hogs
Wild, The

10/15 – 10/21
50% Off @ Best Buy
Invincible
Chicken Little
Wild Hogs
Eight Below
POTC 1 and 2
Gone in 60 Seconds
The Lookout
Pearl Harbor
Apocolypto
Deja Vu
Guardian
The Prestige
Enemy of the State

10/15 – 10/21
BOGO @ Amazon.com
Enemy of the State
The Queen
The Lookout
Pearl Harbor
Wild Hogs
Reign of Fire
Dark Water
Primeval
Dinosaur
The Wild
Eight Below
POTC: DMC
POTC: BP
Invincible
POTC: DMC
POTC: BP
…and more

10/15 – 10/21
BOGO @ TARGET
Wild Hogs
Apocalypto
Wild Hogs
Pirates 1 & 2
…and many more

11/9 – 11/15
BOGO @ Futureshop
20 Disney titles
Includes:
Ladder 49
Apocolypto
Déjà vu
Pirates 1&2
The Prestige
…and more

11/11/07
BOGO @ Fry’s
20 Disney titles
Includes:
Apocalypto
Deju Vu
Pirates of the Caribbean (both volumes)
The Prestige
Wild Hogs
…and many more

11/11/07
BOGO @ Amazon
72 Sony titles (including Casino Royale, Rocky Balboa)
40 Disney titles (including Apocalypto, The Prestige, Pirates 1 & 2)

11/15/07
BOGO + $10 Off @ FYE
40 Disney titles (including Chicago, Brothers Grimm, Apocalypto)

11/16 - 11/25/07
55% Off @ Fry’s
FOX titles
Day After Tomorrow
28 Weeks Later
Kingdom Of Heaven
28 Days Later
Night At the Museum
X-Men: Last Stand
Alien vs. Predator
Ice Age: The Meltdown
The Fly
Eragon
Fantastic 4
Transporter
Transporter 2
Flyboys
Mr. Brooks
From Hell
Hills Have Eyes 2
(All $13.98 each)

11/16/07
$9.99 @ Fry’s
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Hollow Man
The Fifth Element (REMASTERED)
The Replacement Killers
A Few Good Men
Underworld
Memoirs Of A Geisha
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
The Patriot
Wild Things
Hellboy
Donnie Brasco
Curse Of The Golden Flower
Layer Cake
Tears Of The Sun
Black Hawk Down
Resident Evil: Apocolypse
The House Of Flying Daggers
Kung Fu Hustle
Stealth

11/19/07
55% Off @ Amazon
Transporter
Transporter 2
Ice Age: The Meltdown
The Usual Suspects
Flyboys
The Devil Wears Prada
Behind Enemy Lines
Speed
Hart’s War
League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Flight Of the Phoenix
Kiss Of the Dragon
Rocky
Windtalkers
Rising Sun
Bulletproof Monk
The Omen

 

[Jay Gregory]

Or this week.

 

[Paul Arnette]

I am officially BOGO-ed out!

 

[Patrick Sun]

I saw that. I have most of the ones from that list that I want (I think they are mainly WB titles).

 

[Dave H]

I have six HD DVDs from some kind of Amazon HD DVD deal - I think it was right after Paramount went HD DVD exclusive (Aug? Sept?). Anyway, I picked up Batman Begins, Casino, Goodfellas, Casino, 12 Monkeys, Superman the Movie, and Big Lebowski. It was some kind of BOGO or B2GO with Warner and Universal titles- can't remember the specifics. There's been some other HD DVD deals fairly recently around at the B&M stores.

Just to further explain to others who responded - it's just part of the business/format war as of late. Toshiba was virtually giving away HD DVD players; Blu-ray giving virtually away software. Both will help disc sales for each sides.

On any rate, the more the merrier. I'm getting some great deals.

 

[Dave H]

And, virtually giving away HD DVD players at $90 isn't going to "lie" with stats? Toshiba has done plenty of numbers manipulating, as well such as including Xbox units as standalones to reach the 750K figure.

Both sides are playing games with it all. Toshiba/Microsoft isn't anymore innocent than Sony/BD.

 

[Dave H]

Please. Let's not resort to name calling or make this personal.

 

[ReggieW]

I don't agree with your analogies here.

The Hardware sale on the Toshiba HDA2 was for one weekend and given by one retailer to clear out an old player. Save for ebay, there doesn't appear to be many of these left. Toshiba (actually Wal Mart) did not have A2 fire sales everytime a huge BD release touched down. The Toshiba A3's are now $299 and the Venturer is $199. However, BD does have a BOGO everytime there is a major HD-DVD release, and this greatly effects the Nielsens. As Adam noted, some of these BOGO titles have sold more in a week than they have since inception. I'll admit that I'm jealous and would like to have Amazon have an HD-DVD BOGO, which they've NEVER had to my knowledge.

Regarding the numbers, the X-box add-on can be counted as a stand-alone player since it's not actually built into the X-box and has ONE purpose. If the HD player had been built into the 360, then it would be questionable to include it in hardware sales. Blu-ray capability is built into the PS3 and one has no way of knowing what the machine is actually being bought for or if the owner is even interested in buying Blu-ray discs. I agree that both parties have been guilty of dubious marketing practices, but I just don't think the examples you used were good ones.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Wal-Mart's unreported share of HD DVD might also be increasing; it stands to reason that people buying their HD DVD player at Wal-Mart might well be buying their discs there too. But it's all speculation to us on the outside because Wal-Mart plays its numbers so close to the vest.

 

[LarryH]

Well, not so much in my area. First the stock of any HD is pathetically small. Second, they still have 3:1 or so Bluray to HDDVD stocked.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Some, but there's at least an obvious benefit beyond being able to issue press releases - those are machines in houses. Giving away movies to counter another format's release just allows them to issue a press release saying "look, we're winning!", and then a couple months down the road, say "we've won every week for the whole year" after the way some of those wins came has faded from memory, to try and create the "becoming the standard by being perceived as the standard" feedback loop.

Which, hey, I suppose might work, and you can't really argue with success, I guess.

 

[Dave H]

But, the XBOX HD DVD drive is still not a standalone HD DVD player. It's tied into a gaming unit and may not have the same attach rate as a regular standalone unit. They are two seperate pieces of equip. Saying 750K units sold is not telling the entire picture. Only part of it.

The $90 player sale was matched by MANY retailers including BB, CC, Sears, Walmart, etc. It really just wasn't one retailer. That sales price of $90 was a tactic to help sell more HD DVD. Period. Whether or not it was an older unit. The bottom line is this sold 100,000 units in a weekend - most of which would not have been sold at the regular price. That far exceeded any kind of regular player adoption through "normal" sales/business. This received quite a bit of publicity and made national news. I'm sure Toshiba was aiming for this - why not?

As I mentioned before, there WAS an Amazon HD DVD sale back in Aug and Sept. as I took advantage of it as previously stated. It was either BOGO or B2GO - can't remember which. Also, some retailers have had some, as well - though Blu-ray has had more.

All I'm saying is that both sides have certain tactics used to increase sales and PR. And, neither side ain't done yet.

 

[FrancisP]

I notice than Sony also counts PS3 sales as bluray player sale despite it's low rate of use as a bluray player. The X-Box hd-dvd drive has only one purpose and that is to play hd-dvd discs.

The figures that I look at is that Spiderman 3 and Transformers have sold around the same number suggesting parity. Given the number of frequent get one free sales suggest that bluray is better at playing the weekly number games.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I hear you. It seems to vary substantially from store to store. The one nearest me is about even; the one across town seems more BD, though I don't get there very often. I refuse to shop there for my own reasons though, this is just from visitng now and then to research the trends.