Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

"Best Buy is apparently aiming for a quick transition to Blu-ray, as a reader has informed us that select Best Buy stores have begun get rid of their HD DVD movies with massive price cuts. Other Best Buy stores apparently are not even trying to sell HD DVDs anymore and are sending the movies back to publishers. We were able to verify our reader’s observations at the Best Buy store in Dublin, CA. It turns out that the store is dumping its entire HD DVD stock: All movies are selling for $9.99, while TV shows are offered with a 70% discount."

Makes me wish I had an HD-DVD player because this is great news for current HD-DVD player customers. Although I wonder what the inventory is like. Plus, it really is a dilemma - with no support coming, I wonder how many people will invest in a dead technology. I mean they would have to continue keeping their player around for a long time in order to keep these movies running. What would you do?

"Toshiba has halted production of HD DVD players and recorders and is close to making a decision on whether to throw in the towel on the high-definition movie disc format, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported Saturday evening. The decision, which NHK said will likely cost the company several tens of billions of dollars, is being made in the face of flagging support by movie studios and major U.S. retailers. "We are making considerations following the impact on sales of Warner's announcement but we haven't made any decision," said Keisuke Ohmori, a spokesman for Toshiba, when reached on Saturday evening. He was referring to the January decision by Warner Bros to stop issuing movies on HD DVD and go solely with Blu-ray Disc. Other local media reports on Saturday said an official announcement from Toshiba is likely in the coming week."

The fat lady? She's singing.

"The format war has turned into a format death watch. Toshiba is widely expected to pull the plug on its HD DVD format sometime in the coming weeks, reliable industry sources say, after a rash of retail defections that followed Warner Home Video's announcement in early January that it would support only the rival Blu-ray Disc format after May. Officially, no decision has been made, insists Jodi Sally, vp of marketing for Toshiba America Consumer Products. "Based on its technological advancements, we continue to believe HD DVD is the best format for consumers, given the value and consistent quality inherent in our player offerings," she said. But she hinted that something's in the air. "Given the market developments in the past month," she said, "Toshiba will continue to study the market impact and the value proposition for consumers, particularly in light of our recent price reductions on all HD DVD players." Immediately after the Warner announcement, the HD DVD North American Promotional Group canceled its Consumer Electronics Show presentation. The following week, data collected by the NPD Group revealed Blu-ray took in 93% of all hardware sales for that week."



So this is what all those Betamax owners felt like in the '80s. I've never backed an unsuccessful technology format before, so it's a strange feeling knowing that HD-DVD is all but dead. It was the superior format in almost every way, but just like the VHS vs. Beta battles of yore, it didn't have the marketing muscle or industry support to win out in the end. Oh well. I only bought six or so HD-DVDs, so it's not like my investment was huge - and as long as my Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive keeps working, I have a place to play them. I imagine by 2009 we'll see dual-format HD players around $150 or so, so there's a path for those of use with HD-DVD content. In the meantime, if you have an Xbox 360, it's tough to beat the price of $119 for the HD-DVD drive with six free movies total - hell, you won't find many HD-DVD discs for $19 USD each, but that's what it works out to, and you get a free player to boot.