Wal-Mart puts stake through HD DVD's heart

seminole2001

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Wal-Mart puts stake through HD DVD's heart | Tech news blog - CNET News.com

Wal-Mart puts stake through HD DVD's heart:

Things have gone from bad to worse for HD DVD in the space of one week.

Wal-Mart announced Friday morning that it, too, has chosen a side in the battle for high-definition video supremacy: by June it will only stock Blu-ray Disc players.

A buyer in Wal-Mart's video division wrote this morning on her Wal-Mart Checkout blog that the retail giant had made the decision following Netflix and Best Buy's high-profile announcements that they will exclusively stock Blu-ray products.

Wrote Susan Chronister of Wal-Mart: "By June Wal-Mart will only be carrying Blu-ray movies and hardware machines, and of course standard-def movies, DVD players, and up-convert players."

"So," she continues, not mincing words, "if you bought the HD (DVD) player like me, I'd retire it to the bedroom, kid's playroom, or give it to your parents to play their John Wayne standard-def movies, and make space for a BD player..."

That might be the best option at this point, as the dominoes keep falling in Blu-ray's favor. While Netflix and Best Buy were pretty damning evidence that the end was near, now it's glaringly obvious: it's over for HD DVD. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that consumers will automatically start buying Blu-ray players. As mentioned many times before here, prices will have to continue to fall on both Blu-ray players and packaged media for there to be any sort of mainstream adoption of the format.

There are rumors that Toshiba might soon be declaring defeat: The Hollywood Reporter has sources telling it that Toshiba, the main backer of the HD DVD, might drop its allegiance with the format in the next few weeks.

Toshiba denies it, but stay tuned. There's likely much more to come in this drama.
 
There are some people openly cheering for the demise of one format---but that has always been true around here. I think that what we are seeing is a flood of bad news for HD DVD and the BD crowd scurrying to report that just like some people leapt at every pro HD DVD story---or tried tp spin things to be that way.
 
There are some people openly cheering for the demise of one format---but that has always been true around here. I think that what we are seeing is a flood of bad news for HD DVD and the BD crowd scurrying to report that just like some people leapt at every pro HD DVD story---or tried tp spin things to be that way.

Regardless, this is big news that will get a lot of play in the national media... that is if they aren't already tired of reporting on the demise of HD DVD with the recent Netflix and Best Buy announcements. :D
 
Hey, wait a minute weren't the HD-DVD fans boys the ones that kept saying that Walmart would decide this war by flooding the Country with cheap HD-DVD players?

Part of the HD-DVD's supporters statements came true, Walmart is likely the decider, but that outcome is BD.

BTW, You know its bad when Walmart won't stock your products.

Toshiba, you had better heat up those calls to the BD camp before you won't get any concessions from the BD group

John
 
New research insists that format war stalemate remains alive - Engadget HD

"The new data was gathered from over 2,000 online shoppers in mid-January (read: after Warner's blockbuster decision), and apparently, 63-percent of those polled indicated that "they plan to wait to make a purchasing decision until one format leads the market." Potentially more interesting, however, was the note that some 56-percent of participants stated that "they would purchase a Blu-ray Disc player if they saw significant price drops,""
 
Toshiba to drop HD DVD, sources say
>> From hollywoodreporter.com:
"An announcement is coming soon," said one source close to the HD DVD camp. "It could be a matter of weeks."

Several phone calls to Kevin Collins, Microsoft's normally accessible "HD DVD evangelist," were not returned. Nor were calls to Ken Graffeo, the Universal Studios Home Entertainment executive who doubles as co-president of the HD DVD North American Promotional Group.

Full Story: hollywoodreporter.com
 
Any other major retailers out there, like Circuit City, need to jump on this week's wave of announcements and make their own BD exclusivity official... if they wait even another week or two, it will be moot and nobody will care.
 
I hate to say it but if this happened independent of all the other bad news this could have still been the nail in the coffin. There is no return.

Toshiba congratulations for one of the worst debacles in recent memory. Truly I can't remember something so clearly definite as the death of HD DVD. Toshiba should refund us the money for our players out of pity for their lack of studio\ retailer networking and flat out just not working to make their product number one aside from saying "we believe we offer the best product and value for the money." - Shut up already you offer a sweet looking crystal clear vision of a steaming pile of horse crap.

I have said it before but they should have come out of the gate with lower priced movies at least to undercut bluray. After all they did have a pretty good advantage in production costs.

Your blunder and all of our mistakes.

I am a little more bitter than I thought I would be .... Weeee!!!!!!!!!
 
On that other note I do not believe that DVD will keep them honest at all. In the end this will give them incentive to keep them the way they are for longer. DVD is the entry tier and bluray is what the people who truly "love the theater experience" will buy. They keep both running and keep making boat loads of money.
 

Microsoft says 'no' to Xbox Blu-ray

Blu-ray prices finally dropping!

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