Home Media Magazine - November 11-17, 2007 - (Page 14) HIGH-DEF www.homemediamagazine.com HD DVD Camp Trumpets Player Penetration Discounting to $99 has it closing in on 500,000 units, supporters say By Thomas K. Arnold he HD DVD camp is glowing over reports that the temporary price cut of the entrylevel Toshiba HD DVD player is pushing U.S. household penetration toward the 500,000unit mark. Industry sources say that in the three days after Wal-Mart lowered the price of the second-generation HD-A2 player to less than $100, the big discount chain sold 60,000 units. Other chains that matched the price, both in stores and online, brought the total sold to nearly 100,000 units. BRIEFS I AMAZON HD DVD OFFER Amazon is offering a new deal with HD DVD players. Customers who buy an HD-A3, HD-A30 or HD-A35, in addition to one of three Toshiba LCD HDTVs — REGZA 42HL167 42-inch 1080p, REGZA 52HL167 52-inch 1080p or REGZA 47HL167 47-inch 1080p — will receive $200 off their total purchase. This is in addition to the seven HD DVDs that come with the purchase of one of the players: 300 and The Bourne Identity come with the player, and five more can be ordered via mail. – Chris Tribbey T Add that to the estimated 320,000 dedicated HD DVD players already in homes and total household penetration is at about 420,000 units — a number format backers expect will exceed 500,000 units by the end of this month. The Toshiba player previously sold for the list price of $299, but then Wal-Mart and other retailers a few days before Halloween went down to less than $200 and, on Nov. 2, $99. On the Blu-ray side, the cheapest standalone players — from Sony, Samsung and Sharp — list for $499, with Amazon.com selling the Sony BDP-5300 for $439, the Samsung BD-P1400 for $405 and the Sharp Aquos BDHP20U for $414. All three are 1080p, while the Toshiba HD-A2 is 720p/1080i. The PlayStation 3, which also plays Blu-ray discs, lists as low as $399. It’s $389 at Wal-Mart. Xbox 360s add-on HD DVD player lists at $180 and are said to be approaching 200,000 units. This week, the HD-A2 is back up to $199 on WalMart’s Web site, with a mail-in offer for five free HD DVD movies. The Sony BDP-S300 is $449 and comes with seven free movies. Wal-Mart ‘Secret’ Was Not So Stealth By Erik Gruenwedel her boyfriend and read online ngela McCleer was at her that Wal-Mart earmarked the local Wal-Mart Nov. 2 at 8 next-gen player as part of a secret a.m., determined to buy the pre-Black Friday sale, which also Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player for included HD DVD movies priced $98.87. below $15, a Sanyo 50-inch plasma Unbeknownst to her, the retail chain HDTV, Acer laptop PC and Fisheropened an hour early Price electric car. for the event (which Wal-Mart spokeswasn’t mentioned person Jami Arms on its Web site) and said the secret sale Toshiba HD-A2 handed out tickets to was the first of seva throng of people in front of the store eral slated for Q4, with prices and hoping to purchase one of 10 play- availability of select groups of coners, among five drastically reduced sumer products announced online. electronics items. That was of little solace to McCleer, The HD-A2 HD DVD typically re- who found the HD-A2 players and tails for about $300. 50-inch Sanyo TVs had sold out minThe woman from Foothill utes after the doors opened. Ranch, Calif., had heard from “I was bummed and irritated by the I ‘BABYSITTERS’ GO HD DVD said the secret sale was like a Christmas gift to consumers. The pre-Christmas “gift” didn’t endear Wal-Mart to McCleer and others who, when told the HD DVD players were sold out, left the store. “I’m not a Wal-Mart customer,” McCleer said. “And I didn’t want a laptop I’d never heard of.” The top adult rental and sellthrough DVD (through Nov. 2), Babysitters, is bowing on HD DVD from Digital Playground Nov. 20 for $49.95. – Erik Gruenwedel A miscommunication [regarding the store opening],” she said. Arms said consumers can sign up for instant text messages via email notifying them of future special sales, prices and store hours. She SHARP TOPS Q3 LCD TV SALES By Chris Tribbey D espite year-over-year sales growth of 334%, Vizio was no longer top dog in TV sales in the third quarter this year, according to a DisplaySearch report. For the first time since Q1 2005, Sharp was atop the rankings in LCD TV sales, with an 11.3% share, thanks to a 65% jump in sales over Q2, and 88% growth year over year. DisplaySearch attributed Sharp’s growth to its “rapidly growing internal panel capacity,” an increased focus by the company on LCD TVs, and “significant emphasis on smaller sizes where demand is strong and supply is tight.” Of the top five LCD TV suppliers — Sharp, Vizio, Samsung, Sony and Funai — Vizio saw the weakest quarter-over-quarter growth, though it was still No. 1 in sales of TVs 32 inches and up. Samsung fell to No. 3, despite a 33% in quarter-overquarter growth. In the plasma area, Panasonic continued its domination, with a 30% share. TOP 10 HIGH-DEF SELLERS HIGH-DEF SELLERS Week ended November 4, 2007 FORMAT LABEL INDEX TOP 10 HIGH-DEF SELLERS HIGH-DEF SELLERS Aggregate by Title Week ended November 4, 2007 FORMAT LABEL INDEX TITLE TITLE Close Encounters … HIGH-DEF C O M IN G UP STREETING Close Encounters Blu-ray Sony Street Date: 11/13 Ocean’s Thirteen BD & HD DVD Warner Street Date: 11/13 Ocean’s Trilogy BD & HD DVD Warner Street Date: 11/13 Pride & Prejudice HD DVD Universal Street Date: 11/13 Prison Break: Season 1 Blu-ray Fox Street Date: 11/13 Shrek the Third HD DVD Paramount/Dreamworks Street Date: 11/13 Ultimate Force Blu-ray BCI Street Date: 11/13 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Spider-Man 3 Spider-Man: The High Definition Trilogy Transformers Meet the Robinsons 300 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer License to Wed The Shining Mr. Brooks 2001: A Space Odyssey Blu-ray Blu-ray HD DVD Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray Sony Pictures 100.00 Sony Pictures 71.95 Para./DreamWorks 31.42 Disney 8.82 Warner 6.56 Fox 5.03 Warner 4.24 Warner 4.11 Fox/MGM 4.03 Warner 3.88 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Spider-Man 3 Spider-Man: The High Definition Trilogy Transformers 300 Meet the Robinsons 2001: A Space Odyssey The Shining License to Wed Planet Earth: The Complete Series A Clockwork Orange Blu-ray Sony Pictures 100.00 Blu-ray Sony Pictures 71.95 HD DVD Para./DreamWorks 31.42 BD; HD DVD/DVD Warner 10.38 Blu-ray Disney 8.82 Blu-ray; HD DVD Warner 7.74 BD; HD DVD Warner 7.13 BD; HD DVD/DVD Warner 6.95 BD; HD DVD BBC Video 6.67 BD; HD DVD Warner 5.43 Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data TOP 5 HIGH-DEF BLU-RAY DISC Week ended November 4, 2007 LABEL INDEX TOP 5 HIGH-DEF HD DVD Week ended November 4, 2007 LABEL INDEX TITLE TITLE 1 2 3 4 5 Spider-Man 3 Spider-Man: The High Definition Trilogy Meet the Robinsons 300 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Disney Warner Fox 100.00 71.95 8.82 6.56 5.03 1 2 3 4 5 Transformers Face/Off 2001: A Space Odyssey 300 Heroes: Season 1 Para./DreamWorks 100.00 Paramount 12.35 Warner 12.30 Warner 12.19 Universal 12.03 Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data 14 Home Media Magazine November 11–17, 2007 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://Amazon.com
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