CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 6:15 pm Post subject: BR news, has this been covered?

Stolen off another site:

http://www.betanews.com/article/Kmart_Dumps_Bluray_Due_to_Price/1193854397

kmart will not stock blu ray devices, and will instead focus on hd-dvd.

between kmart no stocking, walmart pushing 100 dollar hd-dvd players n disks, seems like sony f'ed up again.

blu ray will join beta on the dung heap of history.

(the above are not my comments, I cut and pasted the whole thing.)

**kal** · Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 9:01 pm Post subject:

It's incorrect news.

See: http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Kmart/Kmart:_Were_Purple/1137

Fri Nov 02, 2007 at 09:00 AM ET
Tags: Kmart (all tags)

Responding to reports that it would stock only one standalone high-def disc player this holiday (an HD DVD player), Kmart says it has no plans to choose to sides in the high-def format war.

In a statement released late Thursday, Kmart VP Jonathan Magasanik said the following:

There have been numerous statements in the media today, attributed to Toshiba, indicating exclusive support for the HD DVD format in Kmart stores. These statements are false. Kmart intends to support both the HD DVD and Blu-ray platforms, and has no plans to support either platform exclusively.

Kmart's dual-format pledge comes on the heels of widespread reports that it had chosen to stock Toshiba's HD-A3 player as its only stand-alone high-def disc player this holiday season.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the retailer's statement meant it planned to stock stand-alone Blu-ray players alongside the Toshiba deck, but as we've previously reported, the chain already sells the Blu-ray enabled PlayStation 3 in its gaming department.

To me, $100 HD-DVD players seems like a last ditch attempt to get rid of players that didn't sell! The other bad news thing about $100 players is that they've obviously selling them at great loss, and no other manufacturer is ever going to bother getting into the HD-DVD hardware game if Toshiba's selling them at $100 since the parts cost more than $100!

On the flip side of the news, there are rumours that Warner (who supports both formats) is looking at dropping HD-DVD support in favour of Blu-ray:

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Warner/Warner_Mulls_Change_in_High-Def_Strategy/1123

Tue Oct 30, 2007 at 12:35 PM ET
Tags: Warner (all tags)

A Warner Home Video exec says the studio is re-evaluating its dual-format support, and appeared to suggest that it was leaning towards Blu-ray.

As first reported by Home Media Magazine, the studio's statements came at yesterday's Blu-ray Festival press event in Los Angeles, where Warner VP Dan Silverberg represented the only major dual-format studio, following Paramount's move to HD DVD exclusivity this past August.

According to Silverberg, however, that may not be for long.

"One thing that may be changing is our strategy," he said. "When both formats launched and hardware prices were high, we made a decision to support both formats and let the consumer decide. But now that hardware pricing is affordable for both Blu-ray and HD DVD, it appears consumers no longer want to decide — so the notion of staying in two formats for the duration is something we are re-evaluating now that we are in the fourth quarter."

Silverberg went on to emphasize the Warner's strong Blu-ray sales, noting that the studio's Blu-ray release of '300' is the format's top selling disc. "We can definitely talk Blu-ray," said Silverberg. "We are committed to the format."

Taken together, a "commitment" to Blu-ray and re-evaluation of its dual-format policy would seem to suggest that if the studio did choose one format over the other, it would be Blu-ray, although it wasn't immediately clear whether that was the intent of Silverberg's remarks.

10 months int 2007, twice as many Blu-ray discs have sold as compared to HD-DVD. Xmas will be an interesting time.

Kal

WanMan · Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 10270

First, I am not sure there is a K-Mart in my county, which has a population of about 750,000. So, I am not sure that matters to no one in my area. Next, I could not find any Wal-Mart today that had an A2 in stock--in fact, they've never had them in stock. Of course, I can say the same thing for Best Buy as well. No one in my county wants to sell a high definition optical player for under $300.

As a result, Circuit City refused this afternoon when I showed up for a price correction. They called two Best Buys and two Wal-Marts and when none of them had stock (I already knew this through physical verification), they said, "sorry." No problem. I'm returning the 2nd A2 I bought on Tuesday--and then having a friend consider buying it open-boxed thereafter.

And speaking of dumping 'last years model' A2, the Circuit City nearest me, and several Best Buys have plenty of last years A20 in inventory. Are they going to sell these as current models alongside the A3 and A35?

kschmit2 · Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 9:04 am Post subject:

Kal, is there a link to the press release?

I can't find it on Kmart's site, or the site of the Holding that owns Kmart.

Also their press department doesn't know of such a press release.

greg_mitch · Joined: 03 May 2006 Posts: 5320

So the article is false?? KMart is not carrying any blu-ray standalones because they are too expensive, right?

I can't keep up on all these rumors and threads over at AVS! AHhH!

I don't belive for a second though that Toshiba is taking a loss on these $100 A2's though.

I am pretty sure it has been shown that they cost about $50 to make. I have no links though and I am way too lazy right now.

WanMan · Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 10270

Many of the studios and certainly fewer of the player manufacturers were looking for this move. The DVD cash cow was going good, and continues to do so. Letting loose a $100 (or even a $300) player that can deliver high definition content becomes a problem. Even I have stopped buying regular DVDs, which means I am living proof of what the studios fear the most.

I would be surprised, though, that it only costs $50 to make the HD DVD player. Why should its blue-violet transport system be considerably less to manufacture than the same laser transport in the Blu-ray?

**kal** · Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 2:53 pm Post subject:

ecrabb · Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 4:03 pm Post subject:

I think this was a case of misquoting and stupid rumors without any verification or fact-checking.

Here's the original highdefdigest.com article that probably started this crap:
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Toshiba/Kmart/High-Def_Retailing/Kmart_Goes_HD_DVD_Toshiba_Says_Recent_Price_Cuts_Retail-Driven/1129

In that article:

greg_mitch · Joined: 03 May 2006 Posts: 5320

Ah yes, that sums it up quite nicely.

WanMan · Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 10270

Well, the world is full of retards--and I'mm trying to get rid of as many as I can. <insert evil laughter>

Tom.W · Joined: 09 Mar 2006 Posts: 6635

The war continues...

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/27/blu-ray-and-hd-dvd-both-find-reasons-to-be-thankful/