Wal-Mart Names HD DVD the Winner
April 23rd, 2007 | by Rob Enderle
There is one retailer that has the power to call the winner of the protracted Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD fight and that vendor is Wal-Mart. Over the weekend they apparently leaked plans to bring in a massive number of low cost (possibly sub $200) HD DVD players for Christmas. The manufacturing side of this has apparently been in the works for a few years but this is the first time we have had projected prices for the result. Why Wal-Mart, Why Now? Wal-Mart sees the new high definition formats as a way to bring in store traffic again but they realized that won’t happen unless the players are affordable and there is only one standard. They recognized their own power in being king maker previously and are now using that power to drive the format that works best for them. They could care less about the technology as this is all about making money and they (like every other retailer in this space) know that two formats won’t allow the market to move outside of the fringes and the dual-mode players are simply way too expensive. Why HD-DVD and not Blu-Ray? What does this Mean?
Wal-Mart uses DVDs to build store traffic. They tend to subsidize the price for the movies they feature to get folks into the stores and once there, these folks tend to buy other things. DVDs have been so effective for the company they threw their body at movie downloads initially and delayed the related services by several years. However, they have now realized that this kind of thing is coming regardless and have brought out their own movie download service to compete. But that doesn’t address the store traffic benefit that will be evaporating as people move away from DVDs for standard definition downloadable movies.
So they need one standard and a lot of players in market before their DVD customers wander off to download land and stops coming to Wal-Mart for movies.
For Wal-Mart the only real metric is cost. Wal-mart doesn’t really make money off of the movies and do not sell high-end home theater equipment. They are known for aggressive prices and, as mentioned above, they subsidize their DVD sales. They needed something that could sell for under $200 soon and they needed the lowest cost of the new formats. This is where HD DVD shines, not only had Toshiba agreed to license to low cost manufacturers early on, but HD DVDs are pressed on the same lines that regular DVDs are, they require no major equipment change out and the blanks, when compared to Blu-Ray are less expensive as well.
This made the decision simple, Blu-Ray was just too expensive to make this work and any technical advantages were insignificant against Wal-Mart’s need for the lowest cost offering. For them it is about price and that is where HD DVD clearly has the sustainable advantage.
It means that any studio wanting Wal-Mart’s support after year end had better be selling HD DVD movies. Wal-Mart won’t be promoting Blu-Ray and, after year end, will increasingly focus their marketing on getting people to buy into HD DVD players and the related HD DVD movie from them.
In short, the Blu-Ray aligned studios will now have to either support both formats or risk losing much of Wal-Mart's business and given how material this business is to them, you have to think that an anti-Wall-Mart decision would have a material impact on their bonuses and career longevity. It certainly puts Columbia Pictures, which is owned by Sony, in a particularly uncomfortable position.
So, if this move by Wal-Mart is true , and it appears to be (but we won’t know for sure for a few months yet), the format war is likely over and Wal-Mart has declared the winner.
Post Your Comment...Comments
Mike Smith on Apr 23rd, 2007 at 9:10 PM:
The press release you based this entire story on has not been confirmed and even the translation is somewhat in contention. This is a great case of amateur journalism. Some have speculated they might indeed be Blu-ray players and others have said a price analysis indicates these players are being bought for about $50/unit. A better title for this article would have been "Walmart names HD DVD the winner, but maybe Blu-Ray, or perhaps neither".
John Anderson on Apr 24th, 2007 at 12:10 AM:
Someone's trying to build hits for their website.
How you manage to put words into Wal-Mart's mouth is beyond me. Please show me where they are saying they will not support Blu-ray later this year? Obviously, this is nothing but an HD-DVD fanboy writing about a wet dream.
Wal-Mart didn't name anything. You have no source of Wal-Mart saying this -- the source is yourself.
Woodward and Bernstein had to get two sources. You don't have to get any. You are your own imaginary deep throat and a journalist wrapped-up into one.
JF Boulay on Apr 24th, 2007 at 3:47 AM:
No one is putting words into anybody's mouths. The mere fact that an HD-DVD low-priced player has been rumored to be sold by Wal-Mart is enough to write about. It's pretty ironic when a fanboy, who obviously doesn't realize that he is one (most don't), calls whoever bursts his little bubble a fanboy. In fact, it's pretty pathetic.
Karl Viklund on Apr 24th, 2007 at 6:41 AM:
They are wrong. I don't think HD-DVD will win.
Maybe we just have to live with both formats in the future. But I can't wait to get my hands on a Blu-Ray burner when the have come down in price. And the PS3 will certainly help the Blu-Ray adoption and get people to know the format.
Andrew on Apr 24th, 2007 at 6:48 AM:
Great article n great news for the HD-DVD ;-)
Rob Enderle on Apr 24th, 2007 at 7:54 AM:
On the first article, what I'd said was HD-DVD was ahead at year end which meant Blu-Ray didn't have the decisive victory it needed to win and suggested all Blu-Ray could do was assure both could lose.
The issue here is retailers need one to win, overall sales are very low for the combined total and with standard Def movies moving on-line the desire to pick sides is high.
HD-DVD has a sustaining financial advantage, a retailer will typically favor the product with the lowest cost because that equals either higher margins or higher sales.
At sub $200 the HD market should be able to expand by a factor of 10 to 100x regardless of the format. It appears HD-DVD will get their first. If this happens Blu-Ray is done.
And to be clear, when it came to spending my own money I bought an Oppo DVD player with a scaler. Until there are enough movies for either format or until the $200 players arrive, that remains the best short term path.
The whole point is that Wal-Mart is powerful enough to be a king maker and it is in their best interest to pick one. Other retailers are likely to follow their lead (Target for instance). Watch for it.
TechFreak on Apr 24th, 2007 at 8:48 AM:
To AV_Integrated:
Looks like you are spamming the article trying to get traffic back to your own site.
Where did Rob say that Wal-Mart is going exclusive with HD DVD? Your inflamatory remarks certainly do not make me want to visit your site.
Jason Howard on Apr 24th, 2007 at 8:50 AM:
I don't think Walmart will make or break a format. They've tried with the Linspire PCs, which are pretty much a fairly when compared to any other major PC manufacturer. Linspire PCs did not replace Dell, HP, Apple, etc as the leading PC maker.
RX8 on Apr 24th, 2007 at 9:01 AM:
HD DVD is a dead format, if you buy the equipment and movies, keep them sealed as they will eventually be collectors items.
There just isn't enough good HD DVD movies out there. Casino Royale was one of the best movies last year, and you can't even get it on HD DVD. Who cares about School for Scoundrels? I want hit movies, not bargain bin crap.
Frank on Apr 24th, 2007 at 9:05 AM:
Are you guys kidding me? HD DVD is blowing away Blu-Ray. The picture quality of HD DVD is superior, its less compressed, has better sound and is played on REAL movie players, not a game machine.
If Wal-Mart really does start selling HD DVD players this cheap, it's the end-game, they will propel the format ahead. Consumer do not want a $600 movie machine when you can get a regular DVD player for $50 bucks. That's a huge gap and little picture improvement to justify it. I think Rob hit the nail on the head.
AV_Integrated on Apr 24th, 2007 at 9:08 AM:
Rob - if you had a clue about the technologies you would know that HD DVD and Blu-ray share very similar build and componentry inside the box. HDMI, video processing, blue laser diodes, etc. The actual hardware costs across both formats is nearly identical.
The only reason that HD DVD has been coming out cheaper is that the major patent holder, who can receive BILLIONS of dollars in royalties on format success is Toshiba and they are willing to subsidize player costs to gain/maintain market share.
This means that Wal-Mart is not likely to see a true price advantage with either format and a basic parts and cost breakdown would clearly highlight this fact to anyone. So, not only is your initial presumption, based on rumor, inaccurate, but your logic to support your flawed presumption is inaccurate as well.
I'm confused as to why you are continuing to write this drivel when everone around you is specifically refuting your statements.
ADDITION: HD DVD can't simply be run on the same production lines as DVD. The tolerances of HD DVD are to high for a simple jump from DVD to HD DVD on the same line. Instead, the lines must be retooled to higher tolerance specifications which has cost HD DVD much higher than initially claimed. As well, the ONLY published reports on disc costs put HD DVD and Blu-ray actual production rates nearly at identical levels.
Do people here bother to do any research before they start writing? Because, I've got an unemployed 3 year old who can make up stories that would be more accurate than this.
Kevin on Apr 24th, 2007 at 1:01 PM:
Do you think blu ray will counter with anything, and if this is true, why cant anyone confirm, i mean we can digg into anyones personal life, why not this leak?
Solomon Ford on Apr 24th, 2007 at 1:20 PM:
Frank- You must be trolling, and looking for people to flame you. Bluray has well known as being a much higher capacity format. As far as quality, let's just consider it a tie (even considering I've read information about the audio quality on Bluray that would give it the edge over HD-DVD). Finally, there are standalone Bluray players available; when a large portion of HD-DVD players sold are ones that connect to the Xbox-360, maybe you should keep your "real movie players" comment to yourself. ;-)
It all comes down to content. Just like the Xbox360 will continue to lead over the PS3 because of the breadth of games available, the Bluray format will continue to lead over HD-DVD for the same reason. Until you something worthy of watching on HD-DVD, why would you buy it?!
The Sarge on Apr 24th, 2007 at 1:31 PM:
You may want to check your source before you report such mis-information. The original article that this story comes from was mis-translated. It may not be HD-DVD at all. It may be Blu Ray.
http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/04/20/the-wal-mart-...
er-on-the-way/
I notice how you left that part out of your article. I think we all know biased reporting when we see it.
Michael on Apr 24th, 2007 at 1:33 PM:
Sarge, your link doesn't work. And you sound retarded anyways. Go away Blu-Ray fan boys...
bob on Apr 24th, 2007 at 2:04 PM:
HD dvd is cheaper for everyone anyway, its an open standard. Anyone can make a hd dvd player/ recorder/ disks. Blue-ray is owned by sony, they get a cut of all dvd sales, player sales, etc..
Jason Howard on Apr 24th, 2007 at 3:18 PM:
http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/04/20/the-wal-mart-...
AV_Integrated on Apr 24th, 2007 at 3:37 PM:
Michael - Solid post, you really refuted everyone with your incredible comments and thoughts. Never heard anyone called a fanboy before! You are definitely original there... ;o)
AV_Integrated on Apr 24th, 2007 at 3:41 PM:
Bob - HD DVD is not cheaper for everyone. HD DVD patents are owned almost entirely by Toshiba and, as with DVD, they receive incredible royalties for the usage and licensing of HD DVD product, mainly through the sale of discs. This is why they were (are?) subsidizing their players. It is far from an 'open' standard as the development of the technology has almost been 100% controlled by Toshiba alone. The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) is the controlling entity for Blu-ray, not Sony.
In the end, if you look at the actual parts involved in production costs for either type of player you would find that costs are very similar and that the products going into them are almost identical.
So, please, don't try to pass off HD DVD as some super cheap technology. Reality just smacks your statements in the face.
LOL @ BD Fanboi's on Apr 24th, 2007 at 4:47 PM:
Some of you BD fans sure are reaching.
What do you think the mass DVD market was built on? Cheap players. That's what got the market saturation. It is what sells DVD's today. Cheap, crappy or both, they still sell.
I have no doubt that these HD-DVD players will be of decent quality.
I think allot of you are just upset you can't play any good games on your PS3. Do you even play Resistance anymore? all you can do is watch BD movies! Haha, you can't even watch DVD's up-converted!
If I had to watch my old collection's of DVD's in 480p I'd be all sorny too!
Sorry, when Wal-Mart choses to buy HD-DVD players, they plan to MARKET them. When Wal-Mart decides to pimp and push HD-DVD over BD. It's going to be game over. You're low attach rate PS3 won't keep up with high attach rate stand alone's.
Also, just because they will sell BD, doesn't mean they will PROMOTE it. There is a huge difference.
Next time you decide to buy a Sony PS3, send the money to me. I'll **** in a box and stamp Sony on it for you. Cause it'll be the same thing, lol
Rob Enderle on Apr 24th, 2007 at 4:47 PM:
Actually the HD-DVD disks use existing DVD plant and the blanks are less expensive (I understand yealds are better too). It trades off the Blu-Ray advancements for lower entry and manufacturing cost. The license fees are under Toshiba's control and can be reduced to make the disks more attractive.
The prices estimated for the Chinese products are apparently not subsadized but would suggest a substantial reduction in component cost which often happens a year or so after a new technology is released and manufacturing lines move from short runs to long runs.
But, if you look at the prices of the movies, HD-DVD runs about $3 less than Blu-Ray today and the players are also substantially less expensive. Costco has them for around $400 now. Both would suggest pass through cost advantages.
The China move was first reported back in 2005 and the WalMart rumor is consistent with past moves by the company.
Here is the 2005 coverage:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/20/business/dv...
And here is a piece from Business week that talks about the related WalMart strategy:
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/conten...
LOL @ BD Fanboi\'s on Apr 24th, 2007 at 4:52 PM:
Solomon Ford -
Let me know how that Matrix Trilogy turns out on Blu-Ray when it's released on it next month. Oh, wait....
Content doesn't count for anything when you have the same amount of movies released. Also, when was the last time FOX released a large number of titles on BD again?
Matt on Apr 24th, 2007 at 5:34 PM:
The article's predictions are not far-fetched, if the info is accurate. Despite the rants of fanboys, neither format's sales numbers are strong enough to point to an inevitable victory. While Blu-Ray has fought back mostly due to strength of release schedule, total disc sales are still pretty even. You can bet if Walmart has a $200 HD-DVD player supported with strong marketing, the new "lower-priced" $600 Sony standalone BR player parked next to it will collect dust. Price IS king, and content will go where the customers go. Let's not forget Disney started out in the HD-DVD camp and you can bet they have a close eye on the paltry PS3 to BR disc attach rates. 4th quarter 2007 will be much more telling than 1st quarter.
LOL @ BD Fanboi\\\'s on Apr 24th, 2007 at 8:12 PM:
Agreed, Matt
Also, just because Wal-Mart will carry the Blu-Ray player, doesn't mean they will push or even promote it. All they have to do is stock it.
If Wal-Mart has gone through the motions. To partner up with these companies and build manufacturing sites. They are not going to undermine their bottom line and push the Sony BD player over their own home brand and format.
Tehy will market HD-DVD, sell it in packages with HDTV's and push it among the public.
It's similar to the stories you hear at some Best Buy's. BD displays out in the open in some stores, with HD-DVD sitting in the back shelf. That is what I predict BD's future to be in Wal-Mart. Sitting in the back shelf collecting dust on it's high price tag.
Audi5000 on Apr 24th, 2007 at 9:08 PM:
To LOL @ BD Fanboi\'s:
"Let me know how that Matrix Trilogy turns out on Blu-Ray when it's released on it next month. Oh, wait...."
Umm who cares about an old movie. Why don't you let me know how Casino Royale, Pirates of the Carribean, Night at the Museum turn out on HD DVD...oh wait, they aren't there are they? Have fun with "The Fountain" I heard that was a box office smash...not!
HD DVD Fan on Apr 24th, 2007 at 9:23 PM:
You know I get a kick out of Engadget for posting this:
" http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/04/24/hd-dvd-camp-u...
"While the HD DVD camp reminded us that they have inexpensive players from China on the way, they weren't able to confirm any "specific reports relating to Wal-Mart". It seems to us that if this were indeed true, that the HD DVD camp would be the first to trumpet its significance to their success in the format war. As much as we all want inexpensive next generation HD disc players, we will just have to wait for something more official before we hold off on our purchases waiting for Wal-Mart."
So because the "HD DVD Camp" didn't confirm that they were in a deal with Wal-Mart (and why would they if PR and marketing is not ready to announce it), does that necessarily mean that they are denying it either?
Engadget seems to be wanting to ride off of the attention this article has garnered by being the devils advocate. Here is something to keep in mind: would you rather believe a professionally paid analyst, or a blogger paid on a per-post-basis that doesn't cite their information. Who at the HD DVD "camp" did they talk to? Oh that's right, they didn't mention their name - because they probably didn't talk to anyone!
Paid to Write on Apr 24th, 2007 at 11:52 PM:
"So, if this move by Wal-Mart is true , and it appears to be (but we won't know for sure for a few months yet), the format war is likely over and Wal-Mart has declared the winner."
FOX News school of journalism.
LOL @ BD Fanboi's on Apr 25th, 2007 at 6:34 AM:
Audio5000 -
"Why don't you let me know how Casino Royale, Pirates of the Carribean"
Who cares about old movies.
Pirates is old. Casino Royal was hardly a "block buster".
But since it's all you can get. I suppose you need something to be excited about.
It's not like you have any games to play now do you? lol
Audi5000 on Apr 25th, 2007 at 9:05 AM:
To LOL @ BD Fanboi's:
"Who cares about old movies.
Pirates is old. Casino Royal was hardly a "block buster"."
Are you serious??? You are an idiot, Casino Royale came out last year and was one of the years best films, both at the box office and with the critics. And Pirates of the Caribean is HUGE. You have just lost all credibility. Stop posting here, you look like an idiot.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/casino_royale/
airtoast on Apr 25th, 2007 at 9:52 AM:
Hmmm... An underhanded mega-corp move to destroy the superior format and push the inferior, cheaper one on the ignorant blind follower masses. And, surprise, the usual suspects are involved - Wal-Mart and Microsoft.
Jason Howard on Apr 25th, 2007 at 10:14 AM:
@ LOL @ BD Fanboi's
Are you kidding me? Casino Royal was a huge sales hit when it was released on DVD and Blu-ray.
From 9/4/07: http://www.mi6.co.uk/news/index.php?itemid=4921
"The latest Bond flick debuted at the top of the next-gen format sales charts with 28,233 units, making it the fastest selling high-def disc to date. The release of Casino Royale also boosted Blu-ray sales 74.4 percent for the week ending March 18 as compared to the previous week. In comparison, HD DVD sales fell 14.1 percent compared to the week before that."
From 03/07: http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/03/27/sony-casino-r...
Sony just announced that Casino Royale has become the first high definition release to ship over 100,000 units, with over 50% of those sold through to consumers. Apparently its success surprised even Sony, according to The Hollywood Reporter, it only shipped 50k initially, resulting in a complete sellout after only a few days.
Casino Royal is still in the top 10 DVD Sales and Rentals for last week:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/st...
From 03/22/07: http://www.mania.com/54052.html
"According to the Hollywood Reporter, Casino Royale took the top position on the national DVD sales and rental charts the week ending March 18.
The film, which grossed $167 million in theaters, bumped last week's top seller and renter, 20th Century Fox's Borat, to the No. 3 spot on Nielsen VideoScan's First Alert sales chart and No. 2 on Home Media Magazine's video rental chart.
As for sales, Casino Roayle outsold Holiday by more than 3-to-1; in rental stores, Holiday generated an estimated $8 million in revenue, compared with $9.2 million for Casino Royale.
KJ's Take: Casino Royale is probably the most successful Bond film of all time..."
Saying that Casino Royal was not a blockbuster is pretty stupid. It was a huge money maker not just in the movie theaters, but for Blu-ray sales, DVD sales and rentals. It's still raking in the dough. Sounds like a blockbuster to me.
zooyork on Apr 25th, 2007 at 10:46 AM:
if you read what that main article says by the end of 2008. by then blu-ray players could be that cheap, this means jack. don't get me wrong i love toshiba but blu-ray is kicking its ass. with all all the films coming out in the next few weeks like CONAIR,A FEW GOOD MEN,CRIMSON TIDE,CARS,THE RECRUIT,THE ROCK,PREDATOR,POTC 1 AND 2, ALL THE SPIDERMANS. i mean be serious stfu sony isn't goona collapse cause walmart is goona put out a cheap hd-dvd player in 2 yrs LOL idiots
AV_Integrated on Apr 25th, 2007 at 12:12 PM:
Once again we have fanboys glomming onto rumors and then anything that suggests those rumors are false is called a flat out lie. Reality remains that nobody has any idea what Wal-Mart is up to now, or in the forseeable future when HD DVD and Blu-ray are involved and any hack journalist should be ashamed for writing such crap from a one-sided point of view when no details have been confirmed in any way - and, more accurately, have been seriously disputed.
ENDERLE: You have claimed that the Zune would kick the crap out of the iPod, you have claim, numerous times, that the Macintosh computer would disappear, you have shown 110% support for all things with a Microsoft label, except XP which you thought would be a failure.
Now, you continue to post your highly inaccurate opinions as 'fact' and somehow get a paycheck for spewing garbage you know nothing about.
Once again: Per disc, on a run of 100,000 copies, HD DVD comes in a few cents more for 30GB vs. the 25GB Blu-ray disc and a few cents less than that for a 15GB HD DVD. This is for finalized production run discs from an independent manufacturer. Materials costs for printing discs is incredibly low, for both formats. So, take your 'less expensive' crap and shove it, because reality simply does not match up with your opinion of what it should be.
As for Chinese manufactured players, I have no doubt that they can come out for a significant cost savings, but Blu-ray vs. HD DVD maintains incredibly similar specifications, so if you think HD DVD could do such a thing, then it follows reason that Blu-ray could do it as well. Figure out why Blu-ray could NOT do such a thing for the same money... Then make your claims, but remember, the BDA has included Chinese corporations since day one and has just as much potential for leverage within China as HD DVD does.
Once again, people are getting side tracked from the big lie from a wanna-be analyst, who has been proven wrong numerous times, so they can focus on the other lies of other fanbois and ignore the facts and lies before them that matter.
1. Wal-Mart may - or may not - release a HD disc player of some sort later this year.
2. There is no significant cost reason why Wal-Mart would go with either format over the other.
3. When asked, by an actual journalist, for comment, Wal-Mart would not confirm (or deny) anything.
4. ENDERLE has made pro-HD DVD claims and pro-Microsoft claims in the (recent) past which have proven not just inaccurate, but flat out wrong. He has proven, if nothing else, that he is a unknowing hack. He is not occassionally inaccurate, but he is openly manipulative of data for his own personal feelings, which lay zero claim to the reality going on around him.
5. Move on sheep, the format war will continue regardless of what we say here or stupid news organizations which don't research the idiots they pay to write stories for them.
LOL @ BD Fanboi\'s on Apr 25th, 2007 at 12:41 PM:
Jason Howard -
--------------------------------------------
Are you kidding me? Casino Royal was a huge sales hit when it was released on DVD and Blu-ray.
From 9/4/07: http://www.mi6.co.uk/news/index.php?itemid=4921
"The latest Bond flick debuted at the top of the next-gen format sales charts with 28,233 units, making it the fastest selling high-def disc to date.
------------------------------------------------
28k units sold, and that is a block buster??? 28k??????? lol
----------------------------------------------
The release of Casino Royale also boosted Blu-ray sales 74.4 percent for the week ending March 18 as compared to the previous week. In comparison, HD DVD sales fell 14.1 percent compared to the week before that."
-----------------------------------------------
74% of a market that makes up 1% of DVD sales is nothing.
------------------------------------------------
From 03/07: http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/03/27/sony-casino-r...
Sony just announced that Casino Royale has become the first high definition release to ship over 100,000 units, with over 50% of those sold through to consumers. Apparently its success surprised even Sony, according to The Hollywood Reporter, it only shipped 50k initially, resulting in a complete sellout after only a few days.
--------------------------------------------
100k SHIPPED does not = 100k SOLD
--------------------------------------------
Casino Royal is still in the top 10 DVD Sales and Rentals for last week:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/st...
From 03/22/07: http://www.mania.com/54052.html
"According to the Hollywood Reporter, Casino Royale took the top position on the national DVD sales and rental charts the week ending March 18.
---------------------------------------------
Casino Royal was released when there were no other stellar releases. Plain and simple.
---------------------------------------------
The film, which grossed $167 million in theaters, bumped last week's top seller and renter, 20th Century Fox's Borat, to the No. 3 spot on Nielsen VideoScan's First Alert sales chart and No. 2 on Home Media Magazine's video rental chart.
As for sales, Casino Roayle outsold Holiday by more than 3-to-1; in rental stores, Holiday generated an estimated $8 million in revenue, compared with $9.2 million for Casino Royale.
KJ's Take: Casino Royale is probably the most successful Bond film of all time..."
Saying that Casino Royal was not a blockbuster is pretty stupid. It was a huge money maker not just in the movie theaters, but for Blu-ray sales, DVD sales and rentals. It's still raking in the dough. Sounds like a blockbuster to me.
Comparing Casino Royal to Borat and Holiday and saying it is doing awesome. Is really quite sad.
Put it up to a real DVD release like 300 will be and I bet it won't do so good.
Audi5000 on Apr 25th, 2007 at 12:57 PM:
To LOL @ BD Fanboi\'s:
Dude you change your stance more times than a kung fu master. You start comparing HD DVD to Blu-Ray, then when you lose, you compare regular DVD's to Blu-Ray.
Are you going to say that Night at the Museum (which is on Blu-Ray onlny) was not a huge hit? What about Pirates of the Carribean? Dude you are hopeless.
LOL @ BD Fanboi\\\'s on Apr 25th, 2007 at 1:00 PM:
Zooyork -
if you read what that main article says by the end of 2008. by then blu-ray players could be that cheap, this means jack. don't get me wrong i love toshiba but blu-ray is kicking its ass. with all all the films coming out in the next few weeks like CONAIR,A FEW GOOD MEN,CRIMSON TIDE,CARS,THE RECRUIT,THE ROCK,PREDATOR,POTC 1 AND 2, ALL THE SPIDERMANS. i mean be serious stfu sony isn't goona collapse cause walmart is goona put out a cheap hd-dvd player in 2 yrs LOL idiots
------------------------------------------------
All of those are old movies, as some other PS3 fanboy just stated. They are nothing, remember?
The 2008 is when ALL of the 2 million will be delivered to Wal-Mart. They aren't going to ship 2,000,000 all at once. Idiot.
They will start to arrive in October.
Blu-Ray won't be cheap by then. It won't undermine the Pioneer, Panasonic and the PS3 sales just to make cheap competitive players. If they do, who would spend $600 on a PS3? It has no games and a Blu-Ray player will be half of it's price. Not to mention the 360 will probably drop just to be more competitive.
IF this does pan out. HD-DVD will reach a price point for critical mass long before Blu-Ray can. Hell, I bet Toshiba will be just bounce off the top of $200 buy November. The HD-A2 is going for $300 right now. These will most likely be priced cheaper than that for a no name player.
Audi5000 on Apr 25th, 2007 at 1:02 PM:
Reply to AV_Integrated:
"ENDERLE: You have claimed that the Zune would kick the crap out of the iPod, you have claim, numerous times, that the Macintosh computer would disappear, you have shown 110% support for all things with a Microsoft label, except XP which you thought would be a failure."
Obviously you do not research anything before posting, so I am going to assume you know nothing moving forward.
Here is a link to Rob's article on the Zune:
http://news.digitaltrends.com/talkback156.html
"Zune generated more negative press during its launch than any iPod, including the first crippled Shuffle, has ever done. It got so bad earlier this week that folks are getting excited about the fact that it wouldn't even work with Vista right now even though Vista is only in limited corporate release to customers who would avoid anything like Zune (or iTunes) like the plague.
If reports are correct Zune also has more unsold inventory sitting in stores than Apple has ever had; customers evidently didn't understand that "Brown" was cool. I'm guessing they didn't see the survey saying that Brown was the hot new color."
Read the article, Rob SLAMS Microsoft about the Zune and says the iPod is a better product.
LOL @ BD Fanboi\\\\\\\'s on Apr 25th, 2007 at 1:10 PM:
Audio5000 -
Dude you change your stance more times than a kung fu master. You start comparing HD DVD to Blu-Ray, then when you lose, you compare regular DVD's to Blu-Ray.
Are you going to say that Night at the Museum (which is on Blu-Ray onlny) was not a huge hit? What about Pirates of the Carribean? Dude you are hopeless.
------------------------------------------------
No, I compare it to other REAL releases. Fact is, it was the only somewhat big new release for either format. 28k sales for the over 1 million PS3's in the NA market is pitiful.
You guys throw out number like 28k sales as if it actually means something. It's a drop in the bucket compared to the big picture of actually making a format a clear winner.
I'm not saying Pirates is not a huge hit. It is. But when I brought up The Matrix and asked how it looks on BD. It was shrugged off as "old", like it's no big deal. I bet the Matrix brought in more money than Pirates or Night at the Museum combined when it was released.
Each format has great movies. Neither is better than the other when it comes to releases. Accept for the obvious 1st quarter and lack of HD-DVD. I like Spiderman, but I also like The Big Lebowski. But allot of you guys are just obtuse about it for no other reason than just to be obtuse.
You claim you have "content" when you clearly don't have any real advantage. How many movies have FOX put out for you? Disney? You're exclusives are paltry at best. But you act like you have 1000 more BD movies out right now than HD-DVD and you don't.
Axiom on Apr 25th, 2007 at 1:18 PM:
This might not have a lot to do with the article, but I thought since people were comparing movie releases for both formats I would throw this out there...
http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Trilogy-HD-DVD/dp...
http://www.amazon.com/Braveheart-HD-DVD/dp/B000E1M...
It is true that these are old movies, but come on, Lord of the Rings? That alone could decide the format war. As far as I know there has been no announcement for a Blu-Ray version of LOTR... but hey, there is still time I guess, it doesn't even have a release date, though I believe New Line has been backing HD-DVD. Also, Braveheart is already available in HD on Xbox Live Marketplace, I actually downloaded it and it looks pretty amazing for a movie that is 10 years old.
Axiom on Apr 25th, 2007 at 1:20 PM:
Okay,so am I am really sorry for posting that 6 times, I didn't realize there was an email confirmation, and then it posted them all at once, oh well. I would delete them if I could. Not intended spam, just good old fashioned stupidity.
Axiom on Apr 25th, 2007 at 1:21 PM:
Now I just put, "am I am" which should just say "I am." Not sure I could look much dumber than I do now, but finals week does that to you I guess.
Anonymous on Apr 25th, 2007 at 1:52 PM:
You mention no permanent removal of Blu-ray players or movies from the store. You only mention that Wal-mart has now decided to put out some cheap HD-DVD players. They already had that for all their Xbox 360 customers.
How is that choosing one over the other?
Other electronics retailers will carry Blu-ray and customers will go there. Blu-ray has the studios behind it and it has been leading the way with a larger selection, more new movies, and continuous releases. The PS3 will continue to push the format as well.
This is a biased opinion leaning towards HD-DVD and the idea that because it's cheaper it will come out on top. Provide some credibility next time please...
LOL @ BD Fanboi\\\\\\\'s on Apr 25th, 2007 at 6:31 PM:
Anonymous -
way with a larger selection, more new movies, and continuous releases.
--------------------------------------------------
Why don't you count how many movies each format has? Come back and tell me the selection is larger.
PS3 will push BD??? You can only sell 28k "bew release" BD's with 1 million PS3's out there. Trust me, there are more PS3 owners NOT buying BD movies than there are that DO buy.
Besides, you guys need some games in order to sell PS3's. They will never sell in large numbers. All the hardcore gamers and BD buffs have theirs already.
Casual gamers and the rest of the public won't pay for a $600 BD player with no video games. I'm sure it looks pretty just sitting there though...
Not Your Fan Boy on Apr 25th, 2007 at 7:19 PM:
Amazon:
405 results for Blu-Ray titles:
http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=amb_link_1417992_1/103...
430 results for HD DVD:
http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=amb_link_1417962_1/103...
The moral of the story? Neither format is winning, wait till a dual combo player comes down in price, then get it!
baccusboy on Apr 25th, 2007 at 8:41 PM:
Guys, choose any site you want. Amazon, DVDEmpire... it's all worthless. The only numbers that mean ANYTHING are Nielsen's numbers. That is what the industry looks to, and has looked to for decades.
As you can see, Bluray has a very large lead:
http://news.digitaltrends.com/article12412.html
and
http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showthread.php?t=4...
LOL @ BD Fanboi\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s on Apr 25th, 2007 at 9:36 PM:
Don't worry. It will change when all the cheap chinese HD-DVD players are bought.
Ari on Apr 25th, 2007 at 10:17 PM:
Just to show Rob is right, here are some links: http://www.wiisee.net/wal-mart-to-side-with-hd-dvd...
Chinese media is reporting Wal-Mart is buying these HD DVD players for about $50 and selling them for $190-200.
Talkstr8t on Apr 26th, 2007 at 12:57 PM:
Wow, this article once again shows Enderle's incredible ability to take the flimsiest of evidence and spin it into an HD DVD lovefest.
Even if the rumors are true (for which there is not a shred of solid evidence as of yet) there is no indication the players would be less than $200 (the contract is said to be $300M for 2M players, which would be a cost of $150 to Walmart, probably before patent fees since none of the parties mentioned are format licensees). Therefore Walmarts costs would almost certainly be closer to $200, which doesn't leave room to sell for $200. Further, delivery is by the end of 2008, which certainly doesn't guarantee players on the shelf by the holidays this year.
Oh, don't forget that some of Rob's top clients include Toshiba and Microsoft.
Phase HYDRA on Apr 26th, 2007 at 1:31 PM:
The BDA has formally kicked off a new PR campaign called "Phase Hydra" ... its purpose is to seed "high profile" forums with Blu-ray advocates and target bloggers to promote Blu-ray to get the word out to the world ... the campaign will also focus on "smaller, independent studio issues"
Big shout to all Phase HYDRA posters!
dale1 on Apr 26th, 2007 at 3:37 PM:
walmart does not decide format wars customer buying power does whether it be blu ray or hd dvd the film studios will have the say remember its all down to content and quality with blu ray having more studios and film releases because of this they will have the advantage.Picture this kids have a big input no disney films on hd dvd but they have on blu ray what would you spend your hard earned cash on. content is the most important thing every ones taste is different and any store that doesn,t stock it the next one will
Mike Smith on Apr 26th, 2007 at 4:29 PM:
Well it looks like this turned out to be just another rumor.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2122715,00.as...
As I said earlier, this is a fine piece of amateur journalism. I'm anxious to hear your next piece in this on going analysis of the format war.
James Banning on Apr 26th, 2007 at 5:21 PM:
Hi Mike,
I would like to encourage you to re-read Rob's article. A couple things worth pointing out:
1) He linked to sites claiming Wal-Mart placed, the order, he did not say they did absolutely. Rob says that Wal-Mart "apparently" leaked plans and that "apparently" it's been in the works.
2) So based on this information, Rob explains why Wal-Mart would care about price in this segment.
3) No where did he say "I know this deal went through, as a fact" he is not reporting the news; he is writing an opinion piece based on information out there. This is a column, blog, opinion, not a news announcement. Look at the URL of this page it says "editorial". If this was 100% confirmed true, you would see it in our news: http://news.digitaltrends.com as a news story.
There are hundreds of sites out there reporting about the Wal-Mart order. Of course, if the information leaked, Wal-Mart will deny it, they are not ready for an announcenment - it's as simple as that. When was the last time a company confirmed leaked information before it was announced?
Dell buying Alienware?
HP buying VoodooPC?
Google buying YouTube?
These were all leaked and then denied. But they became true right?
This story makes sense to me. Wal-Mart does care about price, why would they not want sub $200 HD DVD players?
lOl @ all the fanboys on Apr 27th, 2007 at 6:22 AM:
It's funny to read you all going at it as if HDDVDs and BRDs are all your own brainchilds. Fighting it over like fourth graders in a school yard. Really, some of you guys really need to get a life.
I am no fan of either format. But logic tells me Sony will definetly win the format war.
I heard someone say that the PS3 doesn't have any games, btu that argument was given to show that the cheaper HDDVDs will sell better when they get out. But that argument is ludicrous because most of us know that many games are scheduled to go out on the PS3 in the next 6 months.
Also, with the discontinuity of the 20gb PS3 at 500$, it is only a matter of time before the 60gb version gets a lower price, closer to the 500$.
Another point is the following; I've played both the PS3 and XBOX360 and besides the lack of games, which was intentional by Sony as they decided to do the opposite as what they did with the PS2, in agreement with game producers and distributors who thought the PS2 had too many games for the first year of release compared to the low number of consoles sold on the market, besides the low number of games for the PS3, this game system is was better then the XBOX360. Graphics are better, loading time is way better and has usual controllers are more user-friendly than the potatoe-controllers of microsoft.
In the end, it is not just a question of what company will choose which format (and fanboy Ron with his big wet dream fantasizes way to much power to Wallmart to decide this war), it is rather a question of what console gamers are gonna choose.
I would put my money on Sony. Short of the apocalyspe, Blue-ray will probably shine in the coming years.
And again, I am no fanboy. I do not have any vested interests (emotional or otherwise like some here seem to have) in whether HDDVDs or BRDs win this war.
Just a question of logic. In the long run, a few dollars of difference in the price tag will not be enough to overcome the differences in capacity and quality. Especially if we consider that this is not just a war for the videomedia format, but a war that extends to the gaming community, which is a whole new ballgame of its own.
I will repeat - IN THE LONG RUN - BDRs will be advantaged and will take over the market.
Mike Smith on Apr 27th, 2007 at 6:41 AM:
I did read the article James. The last few paragraphs illustrate my criticism.
"This made the decision simple, Blu-Ray was just too expensive to make this work and any technical advantages were insignificant against Wal-Mart's need for the lowest cost offering."
"It means that any studio wanting Wal-Mart's support after year end had better be selling HD DVD movies."
"Wal-Mart won't be promoting Blu-Ray and, after year end, will increasingly focus their marketing on getting people to buy into HD DVD players and the related HD DVD movie from them."
"In short, the Blu-Ray aligned studios will now have to either support both formats or risk losing much of Wal-Mart's business"
"It certainly puts Columbia Pictures, which is owned by Sony, in a particularly uncomfortable position."
Those were far from speculative statements.
Scott on Apr 27th, 2007 at 8:17 AM:
I'm confused. This thread that I just read for the last 15 minutes indicates to me that you all own MAJOR shares in Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. You must have some financial interests here to be so critical and insulting of each other. I know it couldn't be because a format war is going on and you are just fighting over the methodology of how HD content is displayed on your screen. Healthy debate is one thing but reponses that indicate anger and misguided passion just seem petty when you are fighting about movies. I am a technology lover and read as much as I can. I have friends that have the same passion. We debate all the time but I have never seen us attack each other as though the HD-DVD player or Blu-Ray player we own is one of our children that was just insulted. I am one of the odd ones actually. I have a PS3 that I watch Blu-Ray on but in my heart I want HD-DVD to win this war. What does that say about me? Oh wait I don't have to wonder. Someone here will let me know and probably in some sort of personally insulting way. After all I just insulted their child and deserve a rebuttal. Scott
AV_Integrated on Apr 27th, 2007 at 8:33 AM:
Scott - I think that people are off base insulting each other instead of critically looking at how poorly this article was written in the first place.
At this point, Wal-Mart has denied plans to go with HD DVD, the Chinese company has posted a retraction saying that it only released a cost forcast to WalMart, and yet Rob Enderle has made statements that say EXACTLY what Wal-Mart will be doing in the next year. Unfortunately, five seconds of research shows that Rob often makes baseless comments that are not only false, but at times, pure lies.
My personal grief comes not from the possibiliyt of Wal-Mart doing whatever it will do, but from any respected website printing the words of a hack journalist like Mr. Enderle who can't spend five seconds doing some research so he might hope to present a halfway factual piece of journalism.
James Banning on Apr 27th, 2007 at 10:33 AM:
But Mike, you ignored what I mentioned with regards to this being an opinion piece. Hopefully you understand this is not the viewpoint of the website, and it's not an actual news story.
James Banning on Apr 27th, 2007 at 10:39 AM:
To AV integrated:
"At this point, Wal-Mart has denied plans to go with HD DVD, the Chinese company has posted a retraction saying that it only released a cost forcast to WalMart, and yet Rob Enderle has made statements that say EXACTLY what Wal-Mart will be doing in the next year. Unfortunately, five seconds of research shows that Rob often makes baseless comments that are not only false, but at times, pure lies."
You sir are an idiot. How could 5 seconds of research saved Rob? Wal-Mart denied this rumor AFTER everyone published it. He links to several sites and says "apparently this was leaked" he did not say this was in-fact true. Although as Mike points out, Rob does act like its true with his statements towards the end.
To reinterate:
Dell buying Alienware?
HP buying VoodooPC?
Google buying YouTube?
These were all leaked and then denied. But they became true right?
Larry Case on Apr 27th, 2007 at 10:41 AM:
The Inquirer says this was true as well: http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=39...
A lot of sites are reporting this. I do not believe Wal-Mart when they say this is not true.
Ari on Apr 27th, 2007 at 5:15 PM:
The discussion goes on! Rob's response: http://news.digitaltrends.com/talkback186.html
w00t
Ari on Apr 28th, 2007 at 1:37 PM:
Statement on fuhyuan.com:
"We are sorry to correct the statement that we have two million HD-DVD players order from Wal-Mart and manufactured by China Great Wall Group. The actuality is that we had not received yet. We are asked to provide the schedule to Wal-Mart and cost to determine the quantity even more than two million, if the cost is good enough and timing is correct. So the capacity is under consideration. Any qualified manufactured base group will be welcome. "
http://www.fuhyuan.com/ev/action/main.asp?news_id1...
So it does look like Wal-Mart IS IN FACT shopping for sub $200 players!! This does not bode well for Blu-Ray...
Talkstr8t on May 1st, 2007 at 3:41 PM:
What part of:
The article... was full of inaccuracies and we had no participation in it," the Walmart spokesman said in an e-mail to PC Magazine. "Most of the facts, including the purchase, were untrue," she added. "Not sure how it originated."
do you not understand?
john on May 22nd, 2007 at 12:42 PM:
Rob Enderle...no offense, but that article was horrible. You had no references! Amateur Journalism. Hey Rob...looks like your career in journalism is going to END-EARLY! (Enderle/End Early...get it?! :)
(ノД`) on May 26th, 2007 at 9:29 PM:
http://www.funaiworld.com/investors/financial_repo...
FUNAI won BILLION DOLLAR SUPPLIER in fiscal year 2006 from Wal-Mart this year. FUNAI plans to sell the Blu-ray player.
nigel on May 28th, 2007 at 6:57 AM:
I hope HD DVD wins, this whole war is because Sony wants market control, when they have it they will do what they always do, change the technology again and make everyone buy the latest gadgets over and over and over again making themselves billions in the process, one abandoned peice of technology after the other infinitum. If HD DVD wins everyone gets an affordable quality product for years to come, end of story. Wake up dickheads, get off the Sony bandwagon and see the truth! SONY only wants to suck us all dry
Everyone really has forgotten the whole chineese thing in this war. Sony in there greed have shut them out of the BR market, wait until they start cranking out millions of machines and discs at a 10th of the cost of BR, I can only hope they crank it up as soon as possible and smash Sony into the ground
faithinu on Jun 18th, 2007 at 12:54 PM:
I think that you guys are all funny. You are debating like you really have a stake in it. The winner will be determined by who produces the cheapest product period. You can argue this all you want but in the end it all comes down to price. Blue-ray movies are $29 and HD-movies are $22( prices here do vary ) HD still seems cheaper for major movies. Blue-ray playes are $500 to $600 dollars and HD-players are $300 to $400 dollars. Which ever company can get there prices down to what the real public is willing to pay for a movie and a High Def DVD player will win the format war period. I am not say they are , but if Walmart says we don't have the shelf space for 3 versions of the same movie and deciedes to carry just one then other stores will follow, and that format will be the winner. It is OK to have a favorite but be realistic this is american and we like things to be cheap, and will will sacrifice quaility for it. Neither HD format has stolen the lead from regualer DVD's and players which will continue until the price gap closes. I hope this makes sence to everyone.
Bunky on Jun 20th, 2007 at 1:44 PM:
C'mon Rob, stop trying to front and realize that HD-DVD is going to win this thing. Sony has lost every battle trying to push their proprietary format, what makes you think this time will be any different. Viva Los Bunky! Viva El Team Bunky!!!
frankieg on Aug 21st, 2007 at 3:29 PM:
years ago i bought beta and kick myself over it. sony has a history of so called high end new products that fizzle out. mini disc laser disk...remember them? i don't know where people think that br has more movies, go to best buy and look at the selection. the great stuff such as superman returns, that planet earth series with sigourney weaver and stargate atlantis are only on HD-DVD.
walmart does have the means to end this and hopefully they do.
szhjcn on Aug 27th, 2007 at 8:22 AM:
Nigel - one 10th the price of BR hmm that would be nice so a couple of bucks each, you can't even buy SD-DVD's for that, so which planet do you live on??
I love reading these threads with both camps saying their format is better, cheaper winning blah blah blah!!!!
Let's face it, neither format is going to win anytime soon!!! Both formats have had a huge investment made and they will fight to the death even if it means throwing more money at the problem. If Wal-Mart do import low costs HD-DVD machines, what's to stop Blu-Ray machines at the same or simular price following this. This may lead to a swing to one format for a while, but will swing back once the prices even out.
This war is bad for the consumer as they will either have to wait till one wins over the othe, or take a gamble on one format.
What this war is doing is driving the price down quickly which will make it difficult for the investment to be re-couped within a reasonable time frame.
Neither camp is ready to throw in the towel and both will be around for the forseable future.
On a simular note, how many households are HD-Ready? At the end of the day, it's not just the cost of a player & discs, but the whole package.
szhjcn on Aug 27th, 2007 at 8:26 AM:
Wouldn't it be great though if this turns out to be true, but this is a dual-format player or even a Blu-Ray player :-).
At the end of the day where the consumer will benefit is from lower prices, this will not clear up the confusion as to which format to buy into, but at least will make the costs for buying into one or the other format (or both) less of a gamble.
szhjcn on Aug 27th, 2007 at 8:32 AM:
frankieg - For starters: Planet Earth is on both formats!!!!!!!! How's it go, sticks and stones will break my bones...... This is all very childish :-)
Sammy on Oct 15th, 2007 at 4:04 AM:
Incredible, this topic was written in April yet, I have seen no indication of a format winner. Blu-ray movies are selling more than HDdvd movies. A little surfing will show everyone statistics. HDdvd players can only compete by lowering prices and pushing interactive menus as a selling point. But is this good enough. How about the 399.99 dollar PS3 that might be available in the U.S. just in time for the Holidays. Blu-ray sales will go up 4:1 over HDdvd. With all the exclusives that each side has, they just might have to learn to co-exsist. One thing for sure, Blu-ray is not going to disappear. Too many PS3s has sold the Technology already.
Tantrum on Oct 25th, 2007 at 5:06 PM:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/format-war/198-wal+mart...
Rob was right!
Larry on Nov 1st, 2007 at 10:40 PM:
It sure looks like Rob was right. Here's an even more aggressive pricing approach by Wal-Mart to be launched Friday morning.
HD DVD Takes Centerstage at Wal-Mart
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/1131
Kemistry on Nov 2nd, 2007 at 10:15 PM:
It looks almost like HD DVD has won the war with the price drop of HD DVD players in many major vendors. Consider it this way: will most non-gaming consumers spend 400$ on a blu-ray player where they can spend 100$ for essentially the same picture quality at Walmart? PS3 for 400 is a good deal, tho.
800lb GORILLA on Nov 5th, 2007 at 4:27 AM:
Love your work Rob. You coped an enormous of flack over this article, and now, as of early November 07, everything you said in the article has come to pass.
Your article could not have been much more accurate if it had been written today.
To all the people who bagged this article, i hope you all enjoy eating crow!
There must be a lot of nervous blu boys out there at the moment .
800lb GORILLA on Nov 5th, 2007 at 4:49 AM:
Love your work Rob. You coped an enormous of flack over this article, and now, as of early November 07, everything you said in the article has come to pass.
Your article could not have been much more accurate if it had been written today.
To all the people who bagged this article, i hope you all enjoy eating crow!
There must be a lot of nervous blu boys out there at the moment .
Ian Bell on Nov 29th, 2007 at 9:46 PM:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/format-war/wal+mart-is-...
Rob was of course right afterall. I hope you are all eating crow as well!
Lynn Lascaro on Dec 10th, 2007 at 1:45 PM:
The Beta/vhs war was ended when Pornp chose the inferior VHS. How fitting that WalMart, The whores of retail, should chose the inferior HDDvd.
Rib on Dec 24th, 2007 at 2:49 PM:
People keep saying "inferior" HD-DVD, but HD-DVD can go 51 GB as of Nov 2007. Most blu-ray discs are 25G (something like 55-60%), whilst most HD-DVD are 30GB, so in reality most HD-DVD have more data, with the ability to go even higher.
Plus HD-DVD are cheaper to make.
Plus interactive content on HD-DVD is easier to develop.
All in all, I'd say HD-DVD is set for serious upswing.
Don on Jan 6th, 2008 at 11:08 PM:
Wow Rob...that's some prognostication. I wouldn't buy any stock if I were you...your picks stink in the long run.
Jeff on Jan 8th, 2008 at 10:58 AM:
I just spent my Christmas money on the HD-DVD add-on for the X-Box 360... With all the news of Warner Bros. switching and rumblings of the death of HD-DVD - what would you all reccomend? I still have 15 days to return it...
Terje Bergesen on Jan 18th, 2008 at 5:41 AM:
I just love to go back to old articles where predictions are made. Walmart are now stating that they will support Blu-Ray only in their stores. Online they will still sell HD DVD, but in the stores, Blu only.
Jeff: Get rid of your HD DVD player while you still can. The format is now officially dead. It's still moving, but so is a headless chicken for a while.
kyle on Jan 31st, 2008 at 1:28 PM:
Id like to say that I don't and will never shop at wal-mart because it has been proven that they mark down prices so far that other business cant compete with and have forced many businesses big and small to go out of business.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10838942/
i understand that you are in business to make money. but wal-mart is going about this in a way that i feel is unethical.
Aaron on Feb 15th, 2008 at 9:39 AM:
Wal-Mart Press Release: Dropping HD-DVD, Going Blu-ray solo
http://digg.com/movies/Wall_Mart_press_release_Goo...
http://www.electronichouse.com/article/wal_mart_to...
Chet on Feb 15th, 2008 at 3:49 PM:
See ya. Wouldn't wanna be ya!
Martin on Feb 16th, 2008 at 5:33 AM:
Ah, well - wrong again!! Blu-Ray is by far the superior format out of the two and this has been show the the movie industry support and now the retail industry - Woolworths and Walmart blu-ray backers!!!
How Blu are you feeling after this latest announcement?! I'm not cos I knew that SONY wouldn't be burned again as with betamax.
With my PS3 as one of the best, and only upgradeable player I am on a winner - you clearly wont be!! Woo Hoo - GO BLU!!!
DWalla on Feb 18th, 2008 at 3:55 PM:
Once again Rob Enderle's forecasts are proven false. I really should start keeping score on this putz. He's definitely wrong more often than he's correct. But then again, whoever thought a consultant knows anything besides how to pry money out of your wallet. I'll bet he's really charismatic in real life and uses a lot of buzz words.
HD-DVD is dead.
RC on Feb 20th, 2008 at 11:48 AM:
Rob was right (for once) by saying that Wal-Mart would name the winner, but sadly for him it was Blu-ray, not HD-DVD.
And whatever happened to these mysterious low cost HD-DVD players from China anyway? They never showed up at Wal-Mart or anywhere else that I ever saw, that's for sure.
Oh well, I give you credit for the nice prediction, it only took 10 months for it to be proven utterly false.
DR on Feb 26th, 2008 at 7:13 AM:
Rob, your prediction all seemed to make sense at the time, but you are 180 degrees out of phase with this prediction. Better get a better crystal ball ! Wal-Mart Names the Winner and it was Blu-ray !
Ron on Jul 23rd, 2008 at 5:49 PM:
Looks like this article and debate made it to Digg: http://www.digg.com/hardware/Wal_Mart_Names_HD_DVD...
Digg it guys! The fight is on!
Ian Bell on Jul 23rd, 2008 at 5:50 PM:
Here is a good article discussing the manufacturing costs of HD DVD compared to Blu-Ray: http://wesleytech.com/blu-ray-vs-hd-dvd-replicatio...
Looks like they are pretty close in costs.
To AV integrated: This is an opinion piece, and has been written accordingly. I don't appreciate the rude comments by you and think it would be best if you did not visit anymore. We are also going to strip the website URL from your name, since you obviously care about sending traffic to your site rather than discussing the piece, and presenting your opinion.
AV_Integrated on Jul 23rd, 2008 at 5:50 PM:
Oh - and here is a serious journalist who went to Wal-Mart for actual commentary and received actual confirmation that Wal-Mart not only IS supporting Blu-ray, but has plans to continue to do so moving forward...
http://www.homemediaretailing.com/news/html/breaki...
Not sure where this leaves your claim that Wal-Mart is making 'plans to go exclusive'.
AV_Integrated on Jul 23rd, 2008 at 5:50 PM:
This is a lousy piece of 'journalism' that has been based entirely on Internet rumor with no substantial facts or basis in reality. Wal-Mart has given no official statement of policy and absolutely zero solid information on whether the hardware they are developing is Blu-ray, HD DVD, or perhaps even both. The Blu-ray Disc Association has been dealing with Chinese hardware developers for years, including Lite-On which has already shown Blu-ray prototype drives: http://www.blu-ray.com/images/ifa2006/liteon_03.jp...
A serious website should not allow for a person to post a commentary that reads like a 'news' article without it starting off with a clear cut "THIS IS RUMORED" as the headline. Because, at most, that is all it is.
If this article was written as a commentary then it should read "Wal-Mart could decide the fate of HD discs by choosing a specific format." or something similar, then go into details of how Wal-Mart's upcoming actions could possibly sway the format war one way or the other. It sure doesn't read like that - it reads like the decision has been made and that there have been specific official announcements by Wal-Mart that back up those claims.
Instead - we get rumors, presented as facts, and a website that allows such rubish to presented in a way that is a far cry from 'commentary'. Thanks, but I won't be returning.
Nick on Jul 23rd, 2008 at 5:51 PM:
According to this:
http://www.homemediaretailing.com/n...rticle_ID=10...
Wal mart WILL be selling blu ray players too. And that information is coming from a Wal mart exec. War ain't over.
Nick on Jul 23rd, 2008 at 5:51 PM:
This is a biased article. I am neither a blu ray or HD DVD fan. But according to this:
http://www.homemediaretailing.com/n...rticle_ID=10...
Wal mart will still be carrying Sony's new blu ray system as well as the PS3, I would hardly say they declared a winner. They will use both formats to bring in traffic.
Ian Bell on Jul 23rd, 2008 at 5:52 PM:
Sorry Rob, have to disagree with you here.
The latest report shows Blu-Ray outselling HD DVD by a lot:
http://news.digitaltrends.com/article12787.html
"According to the figures, consumers purchased nearly 1.2 million high-definition discs in the first quarter of 2007; of those, 832,530 were Blu-ray titles and 359,300 were HD DVD discs. Home Media Magazine says Blu-ray took the sales lead on February and that, by March, the format accounted for nearly three out of every four high-definition discs sold, racking up 335,980 disc sales compared to HD DVDs 119,570 discs. "
3 out of 4 HD discs were Blu-Ray man. Plus with Disney showing support for only Blu-Ray, the gap is going to widen even more. And like the article I linked to points out, once Prates of the Caribbean comes out, it will all be over. Other than the price point of their player, HD DVD has nothing going for it. It's about the content here...not the price IMO.
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James Smith on Apr 23rd, 2007 at 7:40 PM:
I like your predictions, just like the accurate predictions you made back in December about blu-ray not being able to surpass HD-DVD sales. That turned out to be true, and thus I trust you on this topic.