Over 100,000 standalone HD DVD players sold in North America
Sure, moving 100,000 units doesn't seem all that extraordinary when you consider that Microsoft managed to foist off 92,000 of its own add-ons last Christmas, but the number does manage to garner a bit more respect when you realize that the Xbox 360 addition nor HD DVD PC drives are included in it. The North American HD-DVD Promotional Group is now claiming that sales of set-top HD DVD players have finally hit the 100k mark, presumably ready to smack down that Blu-ray supremacy talk and prove that the recent surge in disc sales was more than a well-planned fluke. Of course, claiming the feat really says nothing in the grand scheme of the ongoing format war, but we can officially start the countdown until the Blu-ray camp proudly trounces these figures and yet again claims momentary dominance.[Via TGDaily]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
EatingPie @ Apr 18th 2007 11:39AM
What, is it HD-DVD day or something? You shills! You're so biased! You love HD-DVD and despise Blu-Ray and you're not even trying to hide it... AT ALL!!
Kidding, kidding. :)
Of course individual writers have their biases, but you guys have been pretty fair throughout format-war hell, and I appreciate it.
-Pie
Bryan J Busch @ Apr 18th 2007 12:00PM
What is a "well-planned fluke"?
James Rainey @ Apr 18th 2007 12:08PM
America is ready for High Def DVD players. NO surprise here. Now.. are they listening??? Give us one that I can afford.
Timezones @ Apr 18th 2007 1:45PM
Good HD-DVD...but still not good enough.
Get a standalone player for under $250. Take a small loss to get ahead if you have to. The rewards of having the winning format will more than make up for a few months of small profits.
Pony up some cash and get the rights to release Disney (Buena Vista), Fox, Lionsgate, and MGM films. Sony is killing you with studio support!
The HD-DVD discs are cheaper to make than Blu-Ray right? Then why do they cost the same for %75 of the movies available for both formats??? Get the price of ALL HD-DVD movies between $20-$25!
Seriously, with as big of a head start as HD-DVD got they've kind of dropped the ball. I personally could care less which format eventually wins out - whatever is affordable and well supported will get my vote. It just pains me to see that HD-DVD is letting so many opportunites slip away.
wackyjedi @ Apr 18th 2007 4:14PM
So HD DVD has sold the same number of players as Casino Royale has sold Blu-ray Discs...
pnorth @ Apr 18th 2007 4:42PM
@wackyjedi
Actually Casino Royal shipped 100,000 they had sold less than 30k copies, this is according to sony's own neilson scan report. A copy can be found here http://forums.vr-zone.com/showthread.php?t=142774 - (funny thing the original post of the report from digital bits is MIA) apparently Sony figured people could read - and thus consumers figured out Sony is being deceptive in the numbers they share in press releases - Casino Royal is not the best selling BD title - it's actually The Departed - as of 3/18 CR had sold 28,000 copies - 10,000 less than The Departed. This was reported after Sony made such a big deal of how well CR did.... Lies, all Lies from sony - good marketing though BS has never been so edible...
Alex @ Apr 18th 2007 4:16PM
I think I got hit with some "well planned flukes" last time I went swimming in Lake Michigan.
walk2k @ Apr 18th 2007 5:50PM
100k? Didn't PS3 sell around 4 times that IN THE FIRST DAY?
Mike @ Apr 18th 2007 7:10PM
Well DVD sold over 420,000 in it's 1st year. But I still think this is a great step for HD DVD.
I can't wait to see what holiday prices are going to be. I see a $250 player by then Timezones. Maybe under $220 at Costco and Sams.
Kevin Murphy @ Apr 18th 2007 7:27PM
Considering that HD-DVD players go for $330, free shipping (and a 1 year, additional 10% discount on all same-format discs ordered) on Amazon, it's not too hard to imagine that $250 price point for HD DVD in 6 months. Blu-ray will be more, of course.
Mike @ Apr 18th 2007 9:04PM
Timezones, I just went to costco.com and the only HD DVD movies over $25 are the HD DVD / DVD discs...all the HD DVD movies (not planet earth) are less then $25 and a couple of movies were $19.49.
HDMike @ Apr 19th 2007 1:06AM
This is a noteworthy milestone for Toshiba. It shows that HD-DVD has deeper penetration into the mainstream video (non-gaming) market. Sony is fully aware that their BD sales figures are PS3 boosted and they know that PS3 sales will decline sharply during the next 2 years. If Sony cannot get a competitively priced stand alone product to market, then the average Joe at Best Buy will grab the cheaper HD player (HD-DVD) because he can't see or hear any difference on the demo system. Over time this will sway momentum towards HD-DVD. The promised flood of HD-DVD titles this summer may also shift the 'titles released' advantage to HD-DVD.
BD will die if people see a comparable, or greater, selection of HD-DVD titles and the box to play them is $100 cheaper. Sony can enjoy their PS3 high, but they better get some competitively priced stand alone players to market or BD will join the long list of other Sony formats that didn't survive.
Steve Jr. @ Apr 19th 2007 6:05PM
Hey what's that I hear over there?
Over where Steve?
Over there... do you hear it?
I don't here squat Steve, I think you're losing it dude.
No listen... listen carefully... if you don't hear it then you are a Blu-Ray owner, because us HD-DVD'ers are hearing and watching the lobby scene of the first Matrix movie like never before. Whoa... my SVS cylinder sub is really going to take a pounding once I get back from vacation. Damn straight!!! I hope I have the discs for Memorial Day.
Guys... please... let's talk trash about HD-DVD when The Matrix hits the street and then let's talk about IF BD even gets it this year.