Target stores to stock only Blu-ray set-top players
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business,07/26/2007
JULY 26 | Starting in October, Target will sell Sony’s $499 Blu-ray Disc player as its exclusive high-definition set-top player offering.
Target will stock Sony’s BDP-S300 player at least through the holidays. It will not carry set-top HD DVD players in stores, although it will continue to stock the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive and software for both formats.
Toshiba’s HD DVD stand-alone players are still being sold through Target’s Web site.
In terms of software, Target stores will continue to carry HD DVD movies, but are expected to give greater emphasis to Blu-ray titles through extensive signage and software selection around player displays. Target already offers Sony’s Blu-ray-enabled PlayStation 3.
Sony executives expect the company’s endcaps at Target will feature the player, titles from a variety of Blu-ray-backing studios and marketing messages promoting the consumer benefits of Blu-ray.
"Target already has a strong market share for Blu-ray, where they are among our Top 5 markets," said David Bishop, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment president. "I think this will accelerate their position in the marketplace. This is going to mean more dedicated shelf space to Blu-ray titles. This will start to build the next phase of the business."
“Target’s decision to add Sony’s Blu-ray Disc player to the shelf, in addition to the PlayStation 3 videogame system, illustrates how this leading retailer is in tune with American consumers who are interested in the latest high-definition technologies,” said Randy Waynick, senior VP of Sony’s home products division.
In a statement, Target officials said: "We are not proclaiming one format vs. the other as the preferred consumer technology, and software will continue to be available to our guests in both the Blu-Ray and HD DVD format. We are simply merchandising Blu-ray hardware as the initial foray into this exciting category. As with all of our merchandise, we will track guest feedback and adjust as necessary."
Industry sources said the chain wanted to underscore high-definition products in its stores only if they could present the items in a way that wasn’t confusing to consumers. Target chose to represent high-def DVD with Blu-ray, the sources said, because more studios and manufacturers exclusively support the format than rival HD DVD.
The chain’s decision to stock Blu-ray players only in stores follows Blockbuster’s recent decision to slot only Blu-ray titles in many of its bricks-and-mortar locations.
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| Submitted by: | Steve K 7/26/2007 10:44:47 AM PT |
| Location: | Palm Desert, CA |
| Occupation: | Systems Designer |
The previous comment said, "Sony has lost so many of these battles in the past." How many? There is a large misconception that Sony has lost many format wars. Let's discover which ones they lost:
Sony helped Philips with the cassette tape to beat out the 8-track. Sony didn't create the format, but they pushed Philips to license it out causing it to win.
Sony lost the Betamax war in the consumer market, but won in the professional marketplace. Betamax is still in use today, which is more than can be said of VHS.
CompactDisc beat out vinyl. Philips and Sony created this technology together. Considering CompactDisc is the most successful format ever, it's silly to say Sony doesn't know how to win a format war. It's true that vinyl was an old technology, but in the 1980s vinyl was making a comeback.
Hi8 was a successful format against the S-VHS format. This war wasn't resolved because MiniDV took over, which was a Sony technology.
MiniDisc is cited as a failed format war against Sony, but they won that won. Sony's MiniDisc beat out Philip's Digital Compact Cassette. But the war (like all wars) are bad for consumers, and neither format caught on because of ennui brought on by the war.
DVD was a developed by Sony and Toshiba as separate competing technologies which finally combined to form DVD with Toshiba's disc and Sony's file system. DVD was very successful and beat Divx.
Memory Stick is cited as another loss for Sony. There are several different flash media and Sony's may not be the most prevalent, but it's not dead and not a failure.
Super Audio CD was another Sony technology that never got wide acceptance competing against DVD-Audio, but it did seem to be more popular than DVD-Audio. However people say neither format was destined to succeed because multi-channel audio systems are a niche market within a niche market.
And Blu-ray is dominating in every market across the board. Home video, PC, gaming and music are all dominated by Blu-ray.
Of course when you can't argue about the validity of a case you make things up and attack the individual's on character. I've heard so many ad hom attacks against Sony in this format war, which is ridiculous because it doesn't mean anything in the war at all because the facts are still heavily weighted towards Blu-ray coming out on top.
| Submitted by: | Michael Bowen 7/26/2007 9:14:36 AM PT |
| Location: | Louisiana |
| Occupation: | Engineer |
I think it may be time for the FTC to get involed in Sony's behavior regarding BlueRay vs HD-DVD. Sony has lost so many of these battles in the past, they are willing to lose mass amounts of money now in order to buy BlueRay's success.
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