Retailers adjust high-def space
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business,01/18/2008
JAN. 18 | Following Warner Bros. Entertainment’s decision to support Blu-ray Disc exclusively, some key retailers are adjusting how they merchandise high-definition discs.
Predicting falling demand for HD DVD as consumers learn that the industry’s leading film supplier will stop producing in the format, Trans World Entertainment, Newbury Comics, Video Buyers Group members and Hastings Entertainment are among the retailers beginning to emphasize Blu-ray.
The format war is not over, however, as 1 million HD DVD devices are in households and plenty of HD DVD titles line shelves. But there is hope among some retailers that if they proactively push leader Blu-ray, they can spur the fledgling high-def business. To date, studios and retailers have blamed format war confusion for stopping consumers from adopting high-def.
Trans World, which operates more than 800 F.Y.E. storefronts, will be giving more catalog room to BD titles than HD DVD titles. Also, in the coming months, Trans World plans to order select, key new releases on HD DVD, while continuing to take in most new BD releases.
“We are waiting to hear more about what [HD DVD] hardware manufacturers decide to do, but I think one thing we can all agree on as retailers, is that consumer confusion is leading to a delay in buying a format,” said Mark Higgins, Trans World VP of DVD, videogames and consumer electronics merchandising. “They don’t want to buy into another Betamax. As retailers, we need to simplify things for the consumers as much as we can with merchandising one format. We don’t want to be biased, but that is clearly the direction that high-def production looks to be going.”
Higgins added that Trans World can special order HD DVD titles for customers if needed.
Hastings Entertainment will continue to have HD DVD on shelves to satisfy those consumers who have bought corresponding players. But the chain is foreseeing a shift to BD in stores.
“Based on the way the playing field is shaping up, you’ll see BD with more prominence in stores,” said Victor Fuentes, VP and divisional merchandise manager at Hastings. He said it was because of “the sheer number of titles coming from the majority of studios that will be releasing titles in the format.”
Newbury will cut back some on HD DVD copy depth in anticipation of BD drawing more customers. Before Warner’s decision, Newbury was ordering about half the copy depth on HD DVD titles as on Blu-ray titles. Now, the chain will be ordering one-fourth to one-third of the copies on HD DVD that it will order on BD. Going forward, HD DVD titles are likely to be placed only at select Newbury outlets that are strong on high-def sales.
VBG president Ted Engen said he is working with distributor partner Ingram Entertainment to put together a BD introduction package for VBG members. The on-going format war has kept about half of the VBG group, roughly 600 to 800 stores, from offering either HD DVD or BD titles. The intro package, due in about 30 days, will suggest a batch of starter BD titles to launch high-def sections in stores. Marketing tools also will be included in the packages.
“After Warner’s announcement, it’s safe for [rentailers] to invest more in Blu-ray,” said Engen.
Still, there is on-going support for HD DVD.
Retailers including Best Buy, Amazon.com, DVDEmpire.com and electronics superstore Bjorn’s are all informing customers, either in-store or online, about Warner soon ending its release of new HD DVD titles, but so far, the stores are not significantly changing their merchandise mix.
“We’ve always tried to educate people about what is going on in the two camps,” Best Buy spokesman Brian Lucas said. “Obviously, [Warner going BD-only] is the latest news. The ‘blue shirts’ are up to date on the latest developments, but it would be irresponsible to tell them [the war] is over when it’s not yet.”
DVDEmpire editorial director Shannon Nutt added, “Obviously, Warner’s announcement has made us a little more cautious about how many HD DVDs we bring in, but that’s not going to stop us from stocking strong on what we feel will be solid HD DVD releases, like the upcoming Bee Movie. Although it looks like the writing may be on the wall, DVDEmpire will continue to push both formats equally until our customers show there is no longer any demand for one format or the other.”
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| Submitted by: | Igor Alexander 2/17/2008 6:32:35 AM PT |
I had some paragraph breaks in my previous comment, but they didn't show up in the post. Guess I should've used HTML to denote the paragraphs.
| Submitted by: | Igor Alexander 2/17/2008 6:22:27 AM PT |
| Location: | Canada |
| Occupation: | legal |
What I find interesting about this is that we're supposed to be living in a free market economy, but here we have a bunch of major retailers telling consumers which format to buy. Shouldn't the retailers be leaving that decision to the market? If HD isn't selling, then fine, take it off the shelves, but here it appears we have retailers imposing their choice onto the consumer.
Personally, I won't be switching to high-def any time soon, not because of any format war, but simply because I am getting sick of these increasingly frequent format changes. It hasn't even been a decade since most people switched from VHS to DVD, and now DVD is being replaced? I have better things to do with my money.
I believe the public could care less about high definition. Witness the popularity of formats like XViD and DivX which, while generally higher quality than VHS, are way below the soon-to-be-obsolete DVD standard. Look at the mediocre image quality on current flat-screen TVs. Why do we need high-def video when we don't have monitors that are capable of doing it justice? I believe these format changes have more to do with large corporations seeking to make money off patents than with any actual consumer demand.
| Submitted by: | Sixth Sense 1/21/2008 11:52:52 AM PT |
| Location: | New York, NY |
Studio Support - It says in your occupation that you are a writer, shouldn't you be on strike???
By what you wrote in your pro HD-DVD spin I think the Writer's guild should take umbrage with you for writing fantasy while the strike is ongoing...
"I see dead HD players. They're everywhere. They don't know they're dead"
| Submitted by: | Si 1/20/2008 1:06:42 AM PT |
| Location: | Mostly Europe |
| Occupation: | Tech Director |
Hi Gadgetpig,<br/><br/>
Let me be frank. If you are neutral at heart, and don''''t like the idea of
having to buy rebuy HD movies again, then you certainly shouldn''''t be
trying to put others in the same unfortunate situation.
<br/><br/>
The only reason you are trying to promote the HD DVD player is to
improve your own fortunes, and you would happily waste other
people''''s money for the opportunity. As a priority, it makes much
more
sense for a consumer to buy a Blu-ray player and take advantage of
the huge studio support. Paramount and Universal movies will be on
Blu-ray soon enough.
<br/><br/>
As for me, I support a single winning format, and that''''s Blu-ray.
Enough format war! It''''s way past time that Toshiba threw in the
towel,
instead of trying to prolong format confusion. Toshiba is coming off as
greedy, self-absorbed, and a bad loser right now. Buying HD DVD will
just drag out this ugly situation.
| Submitted by: | Aldrin Deloria 1/19/2008 9:43:54 AM PT |
| Location: | Chicago |
| Occupation: | Self Employed |
At $131.00 on Amazon, HD-DVD is a great affordable upscaling DVD player, with ability to play some great exclusive HD movies that are available now (Matrix, Fast n Furious, Dawn of the Dead, Pitch Black, The Thing, Bourne Series, Star Trek Series year 1)
It would be nice if BDA came out with affordable BD 2.0 standalone players NOW, rather than later. Or if Sony and Samsung came out with a program to swap hd-dvd players for dual format players for free, or massive discount.
In the end, dual-format players will likely prevail. I know as a current hd-dvd owner myself, I don''t like the idea of having to (rebuy) my HD movies all over again. And true movie fans don''t want to miss out out on their favorite movie (if it happens to be on one format or the other).
Cheers,
gadgetpig
(hd-dvd owner but format neutral at heart)
| Submitted by: | Si 1/19/2008 1:37:14 AM PT |
| Location: | Mostly Europe |
| Occupation: | Tech Director |
Sorry, my post was in reply to the FUD of "Studio Support".
| Submitted by: | Si (simon@mintsource.org) 1/19/2008 1:25:33 AM PT |
| Location: | Mostly Europe |
| Occupation: | Tech Director |
Well, I would choose Blu-Ray of course! You are very naive if you think
a pack of lies is
enough to save HD DVD. So:
<br/>
Toshiba are having a fire sale to clear stocks.<br/>
Toshiba players are being returned by customers who feel
duped.<br/>
They are at a fire sale price to clear stocks.<br/>
They are competitive up-scalers if that''s really what you want, but
you''ll get the same
upscaling from Blu-ray players, plus Blu-ray itself of course. Plus, you
have more
hardware choice.<br/>
Warner Bros have repeatedly denied any bribe (of any amount that the
HD DVD owners
have conjured up now or in the future). There is sound business sense
behind their
strategic decision.<br/>
The WB clause is another conspiracy theory that has no evidence
behind it, and why
bother abandoning a winner, just to cause confusion in the market
place again.<br/>
Hard to understand this embracing people stuff, but new Blu-ray
purchasers will have a
top notch HD experience.<br/>
Just because Toshiba are clearing stock, it doesn''t make player price
the single most
important factor. People want the movies they want in high-def! Blu-
ray gives people
that, and at a lower price per movie at the places I shop at.
EProductwars has a full
timeline for Amazon price comparisons, for example. Massive wins for
Blu-ray.<br/>
People have bought many brands of Blu-ray hardware, instead of just
Toshiba.<br/>
It''s clear that Blu-ray is winning quicker than anybody thought
possible, so I''ll ignore
your advice about how to succeed DVD thanks.<br/>
The only thing that will "finish" HD is format confusion, and that''s the
only purpose you
serve
| Submitted by: | DonGraff 1/18/2008 11:33:11 PM PT |
| Location: | USA |
| Occupation: | Retailer & Consumer |
Repeat after me: 'Betamax',Betamax, Betamax...
( class dismissed.)
| Submitted by: | Captain Kangaroo 1/18/2008 9:20:38 PM PT |
| Location: | Blu state |
| Occupation: | HighDef guru |
Dear High Def adapters, How can you play movies based on HD-DVD "supossedly" superior format? when you only find "great" selections from 2 studios - Paramount and Universal. Think one year from now!!!! WHile Blu-ray supporting studios are in full speed ahead with new releases in Blu-ray and some favorit movies coming out in blu-rays. AND the 2 stupidest studios releasing their movies in HD-DVD. Average consumers who don't care about the high-def religions will choose the majority - Blu-ray. When average consumers see that HD-DVD movies are only from Paramount and Universal, they will AVOID them like plaques as they FULLY know the format will not last long. Paramount and Universal can not make money when there is only ONE HD-DVD player - from Toshiba. LOOK AT Blu-ray, there are Panasonic, Marantz, LG, Samsung, Sony, Phillip, Sylvania, etc. etc. making Blu-ray players and Blu-ray recorders. LOOK AT HD-DVD - Toshiba this Toshiba that!!!
How in the hell can they survive???
| Submitted by: | Mark Hansen (classicsonvideo@yahoo.com) 1/18/2008 8:49:00 PM PT |
| Location: | Minnesota |
| Occupation: | 11 stores |
As a retailer with 11 larger stores in Minnesota, including many busy Twin Cities locations, we are following some of the other stores and Warner Brothers in pushing one format and selling off our stock of hd-dvd titles at cost and selling off all hd-dvd rentals. We will only sell brand new titles on hd-dvd that were hits, and the only upcoming product I have on order now, after cancelling most others, is American Gangster, Boewolf and Bee Movie. These movies are the only boxoffice hits on the upcoming hd-dvd release list. In 2007 we sold much more in blu-ray with about a 5 to 1 lead in most of our stores, and the past week has been crazy with blu-ray selling almost 10 to 1. Customers don't want to invest any more money in a format they feel is on its way out.
We feel our customers would be more comfortable seeing one format in our stores, and we can push that format to the hilt, telling our customers that now with Warner on board, they can be assured of the future of the format they will be buying into, with Warner, New Line, HBO, Fox, Disney, MGM, Sony/Columbia, Lionsgate, Starz Home Entertainment and Anchor Bay releasing.
As far as the new pricing on the hd-dvd players go, we have sold very few of them this past week since the cuts were made by Toshiba. It makes no sense for us to tell our good customers that they should buy this product anymore, that after May of this year, 80% of Hollywood movies will not play on their high def player! We do not want those customers leaving our store in bad faith because we pushed them into something that is bad for them now. We are also selling out the hd-dvd players, because at the new prices, they are just not selling. Since the Warner announcement, it amazes me how widespread that news was, because we have seen a definite increase in blu-ray player sales and PS3 console sales since the CES weekend. Our neighbors at V. Movie stores are following us, as they also feel we need to unify and push one format for consumer acceptance.
I would urge all retailers to take steps to promote Blu-ray now. We need to be unified, which will show the consumer that they may come in and buy a Blu-ray player and/or movies and know with confidence that they have chosen the format that is best for their investment and future movie purchases.
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