http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/ Engadget HD Comments for http://www.engadgethd.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadgethd.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/
Circuit City wouldn't know how to run a business for their dear lives. They fire good employees for making a dollar and hour too much. Now they are blaming a technology for putting them into the red because they cannot compete? Hello, maybe you should hire a PR firm akin to some criminal.]]>Jul 4th 2007 11:26AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_14_1/feature-article-1080p-3-2007-part-1.html

1080 is not JUST an unnoticeable gimmick. 1080p makes much more sense than
720p.It receives a lot of bad press from plasma
manufacturers/resellers because they can't match LCDs on that front
(well at a reasonable price point).]]>Jul 4th 2007 11:49AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/Jul 4th 2007 12:46PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/Jul 4th 2007 12:57PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/
Any other store probably doesn't have the staff that the one you visited did. Most CC stores are selling heir larger TV's below cost just to steal customers away from Ultimate and Best Buy.

Also, Best Buy currently carries 3 1080p capable receivers, the Yamaha 6090 and 661, as well as the Harman-Kardon AVR-347 (although the 247 will support 720p/1080i active switching, it can do passthrough 1080p). Pioneer's 917 model says it will support 1080p passthrough, as will one of the Sony receivers, but I've not seen those put to the test like the above.

There are serious rumblings that Circuit City could well be delcaring bankruptcy at the end of their fiscal year, and are expecting to post significany losses every quarter. As a company, they're not exactly doing well. ]]>Jul 4th 2007 3:20PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/
From Forbes re: Circuit City's finanical health:

"The situation at Circuit City is a lot uglier. This company has been trying to find a way to get back on firm footing and stay there for a long time. Every so often it appears to be making progress, but then falters and changes strategies. The same thing is happening now. The stock has been cut in half over the last year, to $15 and change. Why is the stock attractive? I really don't think it can go much lower and there are some catalysts that could push it back into the 20s.

If the latest round of restructuring doesn't work, I really think Circuit City will be sold. There have been interested parties in the past, but the company has resisted. Personally, I think a buyout is the best way for the company to turn things around. I would love to see Eddie Lampert buy Circuit City. It looks like his kind of thing, namely a brand name and a bunch of customers, but no consistent profitability."]]>Jul 4th 2007 6:37PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/Jul 4th 2007 3:28PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/
"Interestingly enough, CEO Phil Schoonover was quoted as stating that his outfit had really been "emphasizing 1080p, maybe to its detriment," and noted that 720p ought to be "good enough" for today's modern shopper."

Strange, when I walk into a CC, I see a dearth of 1080p sets. I see mostly 720p sets.
]]>Jul 4th 2007 7:47PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/Jul 6th 2007 10:02PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/
1. CC claims consumers are rejecting 1080p in favor of the better priced 720p units.
2. HD-DVD and Blu-Ray sales haven’t met expectations or even dented gross DVD sales. Nor have consumers quickly adopted one format.
3. Earlier in the week we learned that game console owners don’t know about their video playback capabilities.
4. If you walk through the Costco HD isle, there is a big red sign next to every HDTV explaining that you can’t get a picture that looks good unless you actually make an effort to obtain HD content (its shocking).
5. The most important mass consumer electronics event of the year happen this week when the iPhone was released which has nothing to do with HD whatsoever. My guess is that more iPhones were sold in one weekend than all the standalone HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players combined since launch (PS3 excluded). And at $500 and $600 price points for the iPhone we can make some decent comparisons to HD video players, don’t you think?

Are you guys starting to feel like you are on the wrong side of history?

All of the above flies in the face of the collective wisdom of the “enthusiast” community that hang around sites like Engadget HD. It’s time to take the fan-boy hat off and take a serious look HD's place in the hearts and minds of consumers.
]]>Jul 5th 2007 8:46AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/
I sell TV's for a living and really, most people are AWARE of what's going on, sure there are some fools who think composite cables from a VCR plugged into a HDTV make it HD, but they are, from what I've seen, the minority.

Most people do opt for 720p sets because they're cheaper. As soon as you tell them (Especially families or women, no offense to anyone) that there won't be actual broadcasts in 1080p for a WHILE, they usually opt for the 720p set.

Videogamers in general will opt for the extra dough for a 1080p set though, almost without fail once I actually show them what it looks like (Samsung 5084 plasma does it well! Best TV on the market!)

The HDTV game is, honestly, different than what CC thinks it is. They don't carry the 720p 32" Sharp in the store in my area, but carry the 1080p set. Why? That doesn't make sense for consumers.

And tube TV's are down to 1 aisle (maybe two dozen different models, by maybe 4 different manufacturers) at my store. My guess is there'll be less than that next year.]]>Jul 5th 2007 9:53AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/
I see it like this, 1080p is like getting a new car with the upgrades, and 720p is the base model. It still does the trick, and is what the majority of car buyers purchase.

My 42" 720p will work just fine for my for the next few years, and has made me realize one reason movie theatres are hurting so much lately....even on my set, dvds and hd dvds look great. Sure, there are some flicks that are better views opening night in a theatre, but the advantages of watching from the cell-phone jabber-mouth free zone of my house outweigh my local showplace.]]>Jul 5th 2007 10:59AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/Jul 5th 2007 7:44PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/07/04/circuit-city-trims-hdtv-selection-blames-1080p-for-slipping-sal/Jul 6th 2007 8:01PM