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[Xbox-Scene]

HD DVD Not Dead yet: Lower Prices, New Marketing, Strong Q4 Sales Posted by XanTium | January 14 15:22 EST | News Category: Xbox360

From the press release: Toshiba America Consumer Products, L.L.C. ("Toshiba") today announced that it is stepping up its successful marketing campaign for HD DVD as it experienced record-breaking unit sales in the fourth quarter of 2007. Major initiatives, including joint advertising campaigns with studios and extended pricing strategies will begin in mid- January and are designed to spotlight the superior benefits of HD DVD as well as the benefits HD DVD brings to a consumer's current DVD library by upconverting standard DVDs via the HDMI(TM) output to near high definition picture quality. As Toshiba achieved the #1 sales volume in the next generation DVD category with an approximately 50 percent market share in 2007, HD DVD is proven to be the format of choice for consumers. Coupled with an 80 percent plus market share of all next generation DVD equipped notebooks for the 4th quarter 2007, the HD DVD format has already paved the way to a high definition digital AV solution by eliminating the boundaries between the consumer's living room and on the go. HD DVD not only creates the ultimate high definition entertainment experience, leveraging all of the promise of the format such as superior audio/video performance, Web-enabled network capabilities and advanced interactive features - it also has a high-level of compatibility with DVD. With DVD upconversion via the HDMI output, HD DVD players instantly make a movie lover's existing DVD library look better than ever. New Marketing Strategy for Mass Market Adoption Taking the holiday season sales based on promotional prices into full consideration, these new manufacturer's suggested retail prices (MSRP) are designed to meet the potential demand for HD DVD players in the U.S. market. Effective on January 13, 2008 the MSRP of the entry-model HD-A3 will be $149.99, the HD-A30, with 1080p output, $199.99, and the high-end HD-A35, $299.99. Extended Advertising Campaign Toshiba plans to execute an extended advertising campaign that will further enhance consumer awareness of the benefits of HD DVD and drive sales to retail among potential consumers. Advertising strategies will include television, print and online media channels. Toshiba will also work with its dealers and studio partners on joint marketing and promotional initiatives to promote HD DVD. Current promotions include "The Perfect HD Offer" - a mail-in offer allowing consumers to select five HD DVD titles for free from a selection of 15 with the purchase of any Toshiba HD DVD player. Read the whole press release here.

[Boydster]

HD DVD coming back for the kill this time!

Not.

[sp1200]

The death throes.

A fish flopping on the ground as it gasps for air.

HD-DVD.

[Ranger72]

They can give the players away for free and sell what movies they have left for $5 apiece and it won’t save HD-DVD.

If Toshiba cared at all for its customers it will just walk away and start backing blu-ray for the betterment of the consumer.  
 

I have 2 stand alone HD-DVD players and the HD-DVD add on for the 360 and I HOPE HD-DVD just dies gracefully instead of dragging this useless format war on.

[twistedsymphony]

it's too late... They needed this rally year+ ago...

Blu-Ray didn't kill HD-DVD Toshiba did...
... they were too cheap to subsidize the cost of adding a HD-DVD player into all 360s
... they were too lax in running a proper advertising campaign touting HD-DVD releases making it look like their product never really existed
... they were too foolish in believing that price alone would sell their players without advertising the benefits over BRD from a feature/reliability/quality standpoint
... they lacked the foresight to get the big media companies on-board early and too lazy/cheap to offer the proper incentives

It's too late now... the executives at Toshiba are throwing money into a sinking ship shouting "ITS NOT DEAD YET!!!" while everyone else is sitting around with their watching going. "ok, sure... but it will be any second now...."

Sony could go on record tomorrow saying that their discs are sewn from the bones of newborn children and HD-DVD will still die as a next gen format.

[Bandit5317]

Shame to see blu-ray win. I really was rooting for HD-DVD , but I'm pretty sure it's over now.

[bucko]

It's still my format of choice anyhow, just got an email after waiting almost 3 months,

QUOTE

Your 5 free bonus titles are currently waiting to be packed and dispatched, they should be with you within the next week. Thankyou for your patience.

[Mr Invader]

The only way I see HD-DVD coming back and beating blu-ray would be if Microsoft and Toshiba agreed to make EVERY xbox 360 ship with either an internal HD-DVD player or a free external HD-DVD player. Then perhaps studios would start backing HD-DVD again.

But we know that will never happen^ Not that it isn't possible, it's that MS doesn't want to.

[STICKY_BUD]

i already have the 360 add-on so i am glad i did not buy a set top player for my wife in november, but i will definitely buy a $99 hd-dvd player with full 1080p(when the price finally drops that low). i am bummed about several titles that i hoped would make it to hd-dvd, but i am still looking forward to the $5-9 movies!!

besides the holdiay releases, most of 2007's best movies have already made it to hd-dvd and 2008 is going to be a terrible year for hollywood movies. in other words, it may actually be sometime in 2009 before i personally adopt bluray. i am sure there are lots of catalog titles to be released that i will want to buy before then, but i am happy to wait it out until mass market prices are upon us.

the only thing that could change this for me is if mgs4 is released and sells so well on ps3 that konami decides to kill the 360 port. my brother-in-law is one of the voice actors so i am willing to buy a ps3 for that reason alone, but not if i can enjoy his work on the console i already own...

[HackMy360]

BOTH HD DVD and Blu ray are dead! this format war has been going on for about 2 years already and the consumers have not decided on what format to adopt simply because the price. $300-$400 for a movie player c'mon guyz unless both of them start offering something that can compete with dvd people aren't going to go for it.. These are not the same times as before consumers do research and with the cost of living being so high most people cannot afford these things. Plus dvd is good enough for most people and anyone that wants to keep talkin BS that blu ray won well when I see blu ray replacing my dvd player then thats when i know they've won

[JohnnyVegas]

Go toshiba.. FTW!

I will not buy either since I can simply rent them through my OnDemand Cable now anyway.

[cerealkillajme]

I'm surprised more people are supportive of HD-DVD  

I sat on the fence for a long time before finally getting into this format war. I bought an HD-A2 on November 2nd (the pre-black friday sales) and don't regret it one bit, not even now since the Warner decision. I've bought 41 movies in that time as well to help support the format.

My thoughts before the format war: I just wanted the stupid format war to be over and somebody win so that I could invest into a player and movies once again (I stopped buying any SD-DVDs when I first found out about the 2 competing formats about a year and a half ago). I honestly wanted HD-DVD to win overall, but if Blu-Ray won then oh well, I'd have to buy a Blu-Ray player and would have. Since entering this war, my view has since changed. I'll never support Blu-Ray, ever. I will buy every HD-DVD I want and whatever I can't get on HD-DVD I will have to look into other ways of getting them (SD, VOD, etc).

I used to think the 2 formats were near equal in many respects and they are, but where they are different is what makes me want HD-DVD to succeed.

Blu-Ray profiles... How many people know all about the Blu-Ray profiles? Will it affect you? WTH are Blu-Ray profiles?

Profile spec 1.0 = Can not and will not EVER play the 1.1 or 2.0 features. 1.1 and 2.0 Blu-Ray movies will still work on 1.0 players, but you will not be able to use the 1.1 or 2.0 features on the disc (they are invisible to 1.0 decks)
Profile spec 1.1 = This profile was only JUST released recently. Some of the players on the market are now 1.1. The profile 1.1 spec includes the addition of PiP (Picture in Picture). PiP sounds kind of stupid when you think about it with a movie, but here is how it works: You can watch 300 for instance with the directors commentary in PiP (as opposed to Voice over like SD-DVD has) and you can see how the stunts and other things were done in the small PiP and see how it comes out in the movie on the bigger pic. And this is also supposed to be the Blu-Ray complete spec. 2.0 is basically an optional spec.
Profile spec 2.0 = This profile was only just pre-viewed at CES 2008 (about a week or two ago). There are currently NO 2.0 players on the market yet. IIRC they are supposed to arrive in the Spring-Summer. This 2.0 profile includes the addition of web enabled interactive features. Basically with this you can download trailers, deleted scenes, and other things that go with the film. Many neat features can come out of the web interactivity, for instance the 5th Harry Potter movie you can do a community screening. A community screening is where you have 2 (or more) people hooked to an internet connection with their HD-DVD players and one user is the host and has control over the movie, the host can play, pause, etc the movie. The big thing with this feature is that the users in the community screening can talk to each other while watching the movie. This works whether your friend is 10 miles or half the world away.

Most all current StandAlone players (this doesn't include the PS3) on the market are 1.0 profile. The 1.0 players will never be able to be upgraded to 1.1 (not sure but it might be due to requiring 2 video decoders). So anyone that owns a 1.0 Blu-Ray player will never use the 1.1 or 2.0 features on that players. Same with 1.1 players, they will never be able to be upgraded to 2.0 spec. And as I said above, there are not even ANY 2.0 spec players on the market now. The ONLY player on the market right now that can be upgraded to 2.0 is the PS3. So if you want a Blu-Ray player that will do everything that Blu-Ray can ever do (at least according to 2.0 being the last spec) you can either buy a PS3 for $400 or wait 3-6 months for a 2.0 player to come out with an unknown price ATM.

EVERY HD-DVD player did and does all the above features (PiP and Web Enabled Interactivity) from day one. I only paid $100 for my player and it does all of those featues. As above, the only Blu-Ray player on the current market that will do all those features is the PS3 for $400. Currently the cheapest 1.1 player out (and not quite out yet) will be the Funai NB500 series for about $300. The first 2.0 player to hit market will doubtfully be under $500 for some time as well.

HD-DVD was far cheaper and with more features to boot. It was far closer to mass market adoption than Blu-Ray ever was. HD-DVD was a finished product out the door, Blu-Ray has only spent the past year and a half catching up. The winning HDM (High-Def Media) is supposed to be the format to replace DVD and should be mass market adopted, I just don't see most people spending that kind of money on a Blu-Ray player, sure they will come down in price, but will people even care about HDM anymore by that time (could be at least a year or two before we see even one Blu-Ray player for $100 or less).

Also HD-DVD is region free, Blu-Ray is not, which is also another huge reason I went with HD-DVD. I can import titles that I can't get here. For instance Crank is Blu-Ray exclusive here, there is a German release I can get, same for the Resident Evils and several other movies. I have found close to 50 titles already that I want to import whenever I can afford it. Also some of these titles aren't released here at all (Brotherhood of the Wolf, Das Perfume, etc).

Not trying to sway anyone to either format, do your research though and pick the one you feel deserves to win. And just remember that the format you do pick could be the ONLY format movies are released in in a few years from now. So many people are in a hurry to get the war over that nobody even cares what's left when the dust settles.

I will still continue to buy HD-DVDs and will never go Blu-Ray. Soon I'll even pickup a second HD-DVD player to have as a spare/backup for when my original dies. I'd still like to see HD-DVD to make a comeback, but consumer confidence (not mine, lol) is just way to low to be able to comeback IMO.

[jesterrace777]

QUOTE(HackMy360 @ Jan 15 2008, 12:39 AM)

BOTH HD DVD and Blu ray are dead! this format war has been going on for about 2 years already and the consumers have not decided on what format to adopt simply because the price. $300-$400 for a movie player c'mon guyz unless both of them start offering something that can compete with dvd people aren't going to go for it.. These are not the same times as before consumers do research and with the cost of living being so high most people cannot afford these things. Plus dvd is good enough for most people and anyone that wants to keep talkin BS that blu ray won well when I see blu ray replacing my dvd player then thats when i know they've won

Hence the reason why you can now purchase HD-DVD players for $150 (or in the case of Amazon and Tigerdirect $130).  Until the remaining movie studios drop support HD-DVD isn't dead.  Blu-Ray hasn't won the battle by a long-shot though.  They still have some serious growing pains on the horizon this year with the release of their V1.1 and V2.0 spec discs (which a number of the standalones CANNOT be upgraded to).  Most claim that only the special features will be affected by this but I would be greatly surprised if there weren't some general hardware playback issues.  Only the PS3 is really set-up for these changes.  Which brings up another point, ultimately standalone players have more mass market appeal than video-game consoles.  Outside of the PS3 Blu-Ray hardware sales are absolutely pathetic.  I concur though that neither will displace DVD although HD-DVD definitely gives the opportunity for a realistic supplement to your existing DVD library and even if it tanks you still have a solid up-conversion player for standard DVDs.  All they really need to do is push prices below $100 on the A3 and they can definitely gain mass appeal if for no other reason than it's solid up-conversion standard DVD capabilities.  Until all movie studios officially cease production of HD-DVD discs, the format is NOT dead.  Furthermore Warner Bros. has left themselves a little bit of an escape clause since they will not officially stop producing movies on HD-DVD until May.  This gives them some time to see what events will transpire and they can change their mind at the last minute.  If you don't believe that, take a look at their recent history.  They announced in mid-december that they had absolutely no plans of ditching either format and then 3 weeks later they claim to be going Blu-Ray excluisve.  If these new sales get a number of the fence sitters to finally invest since the price point has almost reached the risk free status then you could well see a difference.   Think of the hundreds of millions of DVD players of one form or another that are currently being sold or in use in households across the US.  There are an estimated 3.5 million Blu-Ray players in households (including PS3 sales) and an estimated 1 million HD-DVD players in households in the US.  The war is FAR from over when you put that kind of a spin on things and Blu-Rays V1.0, V1.1 and V2.0 spec and $300+ hardware price-points are going to make mass adoption very difficult.  Furthermore it should be noted that the $300 standalones are all non-upgradable V1.0 spec units with very poor firmware update support.  I do not envy the folks who purchased these units.  If anyone would like I can post my reasons for why I believe HD-DVD is superior as a format for the consumer.  Not necessarily stating that it's going to win, just why it is the better choice for the consumer.  

[slappynutz]

Toshiba is slashing prices on their existing players and didn't announce any new ones at the biggest consumer electonics show of the year. It's called dumping stock. That Universal and Paramount reaffirmed "support" but not "exclusive support" is also telling. It's over.

[ekruob]

QUOTE(slappynutz @ Jan 15 2008, 11:27 AM)

Toshiba is slashing prices on their existing players and didn't announce any new ones at the biggest consumer electonics show of the year. It's called dumping stock. That Universal and Paramount reaffirmed "support" but not "exclusive support" is also telling. It's over.

Universal will never support Sony - too many previous court cases between them means there is still deep-seated animosity harboured.

HD DVD doesn't need exclusive support - it just needs support.  If Toshiba buys support from Disney - it doesn't need to be exclusive support - then Blu-ray is doomed.