HD-A3 sells out at Wal-Mart.com

[allargon]

What? Less than bad news for HD DVD? Bill Hunt won't ever report this. Michael Bay might call it a desperate last stand or something.

Anyhoo, this proves--people love a bargain. I wish the Blu brigade would lean on the BDA members to lower hardware prices rather than just whining about how HDM won't succeed with two formats.

Punch Jump :// NEWS - HD-A3 HD DVD Player sold out at Wal-Mart - Other

HD-A3 HD DVD Player sold out at Wal-Mart
Published: February 7, 2008 9:08 AM PDT
by Marcus Lai

Wal-Mart this week sold out of Toshiba Corp.'s entry level HD DVD Player to online customers.

Walmart.com on Wed. evening held a sold out status of the HD-A3 HD DVD Player. The retailer sells the product for $139.28.

Additionally, the item held a sold out or limited availability status at several Southern California locations.

Retailers this week, including Walmart.com, Amazon.com, and Circuit City are holding steep discounts to spur sales of the less popular high-definition format.

Amazon.com this week slashed 50 percent off more than 100 HD DVD titles.

Additionally, it price cut Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 HD DVD Player to $79.99.

Circuit City this week began offering a Toshiba Satellite laptop with a built-in HD DVD drive, a free Bourne Ultimatum on HD DVD format, and a wireless router for $799.98 after rebates.

Toshiba last month price cut all stand alone HD DVD Players following an announcement from Warner Bros. that it will produce high-definition content exclusively on Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray disc.

Blu-ray player sales recorded an 82 percent share in the week ending Jan. 27. HD DVD recorded the remaining 18 percent, according to data from Nielsen VideoScan.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Been sold out for a couple of days.

You cant even get the A35 from CCity's website(in store or web purchase) and can only buy them in store from Best Buy. Dont see you bragging about this? BTW, it doesnt mean they are sold out because they did so well either.

I wish the red brigade would get over it, as you can tell in this forum over the past week, they havent.

 

[mike123abc]

If you think they were so popular they would simply order more of them from Toshiba...

 

[teamerickson]

If you think they were so popular they would simply order more of them from Toshiba...

That's the big question. Are they clearing inventory, or selling so hot they can't keep up with demand?

 

[JamesJ]

.

Blu-ray player sales recorded an 82 percent share in the week ending Jan. 27. HD DVD recorded the remaining 18 percent, according to data from Nielsen VideoScan.

I dont think they are selling out because of the popularity!

 

[teamerickson]

.

I dont think they are selling out because of the popularity!

Are you taking about hardware or software. Hardware sales for HD DVD was 34% for that week.

Latest NPD report shows Blu-ray sales were no trend - Engadget HD

 

[Hall]

See how quickly, if at all, Walmart replenishes their stock. THAT will indicate whether they're dumping them or if they're in demand.

I did check stock (using their beta tool at walmart.com) and all but two out of twelve stores have A3 units in stock. Some are "low" stock though.

 

[FreddyvsJasonvsAsh]

walmart is the low price leader so with that said they sold out due to people buying the item and they are awaiting more........

 

[Peter Parker]

We seem t have people claiming that Walmart, CC and BB are going to replenish their stock and people claiming that they a re not. Can either side tell us why they believe what they believe?

 

[foghorn2]

I already seen the new boxes at BB with 2 bourne movies, no WB!

Too bad for WB, just as lame as their TV Stations.

 

[robre]

We seem t have people claiming that Walmart, CC and BB are going to replenish their stock and people claiming that they a re not. Can either side tell us why they believe what they believe?

Here is my two cents on the subject. Why would Circuit City come out in the last several weeks and state they were still supporting both formats and actually start to include Toshiba HD DVD players in their ads if they were planning on dumping them? With their return policy, that would just come back to bite them. I have to also believe that Toshiba must have some commitment from them or they would not have included WalMart, Best Buy, and Circuit City in their current TV ads. The A3 is their number 3 best selling DVD player on Circuit City's web site and best selling HD player (beating out all Blu Ray players). And this week, the retailers are featuring the A30, so Toshiba must be coordinating something there. Best Buy and Circuit City do not coincidentally both have that model listed in their ads. If Circuit City was not going to restock them, the only logical thing to do would be to put them on clearance to avoid selling a lot of players that would only be returned, and that is not being done (even though many Blu Ray supporters claimed that was a fact after a pricing error a couple weeks ago). You have to be careful who you listen to. If you want information on what is going on with HD DVD, take with a grain of salt what you read from a Blu Ray supporter or Blu Ray leaning site. Whether HD DVD can come back is a big question and a challenge, but the facts appear to be that they are trying and the retailers, at least for now, are still supporting the format.

 

[robre]

I already seen the new boxes at BB with 2 bourne movies, no WB!

Too bad for WB, just as lame as their TV Stations.

Yet more evidence that they are restocking, as the boxes with the 2 Bourne movies are new product that only came out in the last several weeks.

 

[JoeSp]

That's the big question. Are they clearing inventory, or selling so hot they can't keep up with demand?

The Walmart in my town has been out for two weeks and the manager said that he could not order any more. Either they are clearing out inventory with WB or they are moving inventory for a newer line with maybe Universal? Has anyone heard of a newer line of HD-DVD coming from Toshiba? As long as Toshiba is willing to gaureentee the retailer some profit if it is only $15 then the retailer will sell as long as they can get product and have buyers. I think that when July roles around and WB HD-DVD starts disappearing from the shelves (and I believe that to be at least 30% of HD-DVD titles right now) there will be a severe shrinkage of titles available for the new HD-DVD consumer. HD-DVD is not coming back. Toshiba is losing their shirts sell these players this low, and I believe that WB said that after March 1st they would not be replenishing any HD-DVD titles. They just said that they would honor their commitment to release new titles thru the end of May. Maybe WB will push that replenishing date back to the end of May too. Who knows at this point. But if you are interested in getting a HD-DVD player with the reduced prices on both HD-DVD standalones and movies now is the time to buy. Get all the WB titles you want now because soon there will be no more.

 

[dfergie]

You know what? other than the PS3, there are no BD players at my Wal Mart... There have been HD DVD players...

 

[Peter Parker]

Intersting my Wal Mart carries only the PS3 and one Sony model. Perhaps it varies significantly by location.

 

[JamesJ]

Are you taking about hardware or software. Hardware sales for HD DVD was 34% for that week.

Latest NPD report shows Blu-ray sales were no trend - Engadget HD

we were both wrong the article you quoted two me was put on the 29th, and mine was talking about the 27th, this article was talking about sales ending on the 7th .

 

[ONUOsFan]

The A3 is their number 3 best selling DVD player on Circuit City's web site and best selling HD player (beating out all Blu Ray players).

Couldn't be because Toshiba is the only one making players, could it? First-time Blu-Ray buyers have many more choices to spread their purchases around on, so it would stand to reason that no one player would be as high as the Toshiba.

Yet more evidence that they are restocking, as the boxes with the 2 Bourne movies are new product that only came out in the last several weeks.

This I tend to agree with... all of this "clearance" and "running out of stock" stuff is just them trading out one box (with 300) for another (without).

 

[Zookster]

As I walked into an Office Depot yesterday, I was immediately greeted by a very prominent end cap featuring a nice Sharp 37" LCD. Being drawn in closer, I noticed it was paired with a Toshiba A3. Upon closer inspection, though the Sharp TV was reasonably priced for a big box B&M, the price on the A3 was $299!!!

HELLO!? Did some corporate exec not get the memo or read the business section of any newspaper or online media in the last month???

 

[gadgtfreek]

A3 is now NO longer on the Wally site.

Electronics - Wal-mart

 

[Hall]

I have the direct URL to the A3 and it actually reads something about "not available online" now. I don't think that's a good sign....