More HD DVD moves to retail
But in-store efforts still have spotty results
By Susanne Ault and Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 6/2/2006
JUNE 2 | After a drought, additional Toshiba HD DVD players are flowing to retail.
Because of thin hardware supplies, store merchandising of both hardware and software remains spotty.
However, Toshiba is beginning to ship new players to an increasingly larger pool of retailers on a weekly basis, said company VP of marketing Jodi Sally.
Currently in 3,000 storefronts, Toshiba HD DVD models will be sold in more than 5,000 outlets by year end.
Last week, Thompson started shipping HD DVD players to retail. Similar to Toshiba’s base units, the RCA HDV5000 is priced at $499.Toshiba has been steering its HD DVD quantities to those stores with hefty consumer electronics departments.
Illinois’ Abt Electronics received 60 units Wednesday of Toshiba’s $499 HD-A1 HD DVD model. The store had been wiped out of the player for much of the past month.
Many electronics chains, including Best Buy and Amazon.com, have been coming up short on HD DVD player supply (VB, 5-22).
Though Toshiba’s Sally said the manufacturer has been shipping out new players each week since their April debut.
“The problem [Toshiba] is having is a better problem than having too much in the market and it not being able to sell,” Abt owner John Abt said. “But from a consumer standpoint, this might not be the best thing.”Web boards have been flooded with messages detailing problems finding HD DVD hardware and software. One online poster was surprised to finally find HD DVD titles within a Wal-Mart store’s PlayStation Portable film section.
A Los Angeles Best Buy remained out of stock on Toshiba players last week, leaving it unable to correctly show off HD DVD titles in-store. Some software was being sold near the altered HD DVD display area, while other titles were bunched near standard-definition DVD players at the store.
“No one has figured out the best way to do this,” Best Buy spokesman Brian Lucas said. “It’s hard when there aren’t that many titles and the players are in tight supply. You don’t want to confuse consumers needlessly. If you give everything too much play and there aren’t the players, that’s confusing.”
Value Electronics, which sells HD DVD players online and at its Scarsdale, N.Y., store, remains sold out on players despite receiving five “generous” shipments since April, said president Robert Zohn.
Since that bow, Value has sold 2,000 HD DVD players.
“It’s difficult for us,” Zohn said. “We’ve never been in a stock position [with the Toshiba products] where people can call and get [a player] on the same day.”
On a positive note, most of Value’s HD DVD customers are choosing to buy every software title available.
Online retailers are proving some of the hotter spots for HD DVD items. Amazon.com is one of the few major retailers offering a significant promotion of the format. Customers who buy three HD DVD titles in one order, an HD DVD player or an HDTV are eligible to receive 10% off all additional HD DVD title purchases for an entire year.
A similar deal also applies to upcoming Blu-ray hardware and software.
“Amazon has a large early adopter customer base that is quick to adopt new technologies, and this promotion lowers the barrier to entry into new high-definition formats,” said Frank Sadowski, VP of consumer electronics merchandising. Sadowski declined to specify the number of consumers buying into the HD DVD deal, but added, “We are very pleased with the response of our customers, who are clearly interested in building their HD DVD libraries.”
Amazon.com was out of Toshiba HD-A1 models as of Thursday. But the site’s third-party sellers did have quantities available.
Retailers also feel that HD DVD merchandising is crimped by studios switching street dates and/or providing short notice of official title bows.
“Any marketing plans are being done right now by the seat of our pants,” said Terrel Porter-Smith, national video advertising senior manager at Tower. “Until studios get it a little more together and there’s more product out there, we can’t do too much. You can’t ask the stores to put that much effort into it.”
