HD DVD sales sluggish

Players still missing at many retailers

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 5/5/2006

MAY 5 | After a couple of weeks of availability, HD DVD is proving to be a slow go at retail.

Toshiba is limiting its initial shipment of HD DVD players (VB, 4-13), and with relatively few hardware units in the market, Warner Home Video is restricting HD DVD title shipments to retail accordingly (VB, 2-10).

“We do want to do something with [HD DVD],” Hastings director of marketing Mason Goodfellow said. “But our HD DVD allocation is less than the amount of stores that we have. As far as I’m concerned, it’s not a launch at this point.”

The chain has received Universal Studios Home Entertainment’s Doom, Apollo 13 and Serenity HD DVDs but hasn’t decided how or where to merchandise them until it gets the high-def players.

Toshiba would not comment on current HD DVD player supply or stock replenishment, and studios declined to talk about the number of software units allocated to retailers.

Illinois’ Abt Electronics quickly sold out of initial Toshiba players. But it wasn’t clear last week when the store’s stock would be replenished.

Texas electronics store Bjorn’s continues to wait for its first shipment of Toshiba’s $499 players. Bjorn’s customers have logged about 15 pre-orders.

Bjorn’s has delivered to its customers 10 units of Toshiba’s $799 model, but the store still needs about 10 more units to satisfy outstanding pre-orders for this upscale version.

“With every new technology, it will take awhile to pick up,” Bjorn’s assistant buyer Xavier Dominguez said. “It’s like when DVD first came out.”

Bjorn’s has sold about one or two HD DVD titles per buyers of a Toshiba player. The retailer is waiting to get in Serenity, a title missing at some stores on its April 18 bow (VB, 4-18).

Fred Meyer hopes to soon offer Toshiba players. In the meantime, the retailer has placed HD DVD titles in about 20 of its stores, representing about 15% of the chain.

“What we’re carrying is limited, and it’s a test at this point,” Fred Meyer buyer Randy Schaaf said.

Online sites Amazon.com, which carries Toshiba players, and DVDEmpire.com, which doesn’t, are both pleased with HD DVD software sales.

“Pre-orders and new orders are being filled as we manage incoming inventory to orders,” said Frank Sadowski, Amazon.com VP of consumer electronics merchandising.

Non-hardware regional chain Newbury Comics has not sold one copy of its HD DVD stock despite pricing its titles at about $20, a few dollars less than rival New England area Best Buys.