Best Buy to push Blu-ray over HD DVD
updated 04:30 pm EST, Mon February 11, 2008
Best Buy Picks Blu-ray
Large-scale retailer Best Buy this afternoon unsettled the HD video industry by announcing that it would promote Blu-ray over HD DVD. The chain had originally claimed to remain platform-neutral but now says Blu-ray will be its "preferred" format and will reflect this choice in its stores. Blu-ray movie players and titles will be given more prominent positions than HD DVD, while store staff are more likely to recommend the new format. The sudden shift is a reaction to customer demand, according to Best Buy president Brian Dunn.
"Consumers have told us that they want us to help lead the way," Dunn claims.
Best Buy's decision compounds HD DVD's losses for today alone, as Netflix dropped HD DVD this morning in an attempt to drive HD movie sales by choosing only one format. Since Warner Bros.' announcement that it would shift to Blu-ray exclusivity in January, Blu-ray has continued to lead sales and has resulted in several stores and services either de-emphasizing HD DVD or introducing HD for the first time through Blu-ray.
HD DVD's chief proponent, Toshiba, has not responded to the Best Buy move but was formerly the subject of a promotion that sold the HD-A3 movie player for $200, which remained the lowest price for an HD DVD player until the Warner announcement pressed Toshiba to make a price cut to $150 in a bid to remain competitive.
no-brainer
02/11, 05:05pm reply
Just following the lead set by Warner... HD-DVD is dead, nice to know a standard has been settled upon. Now if only I could get a Blu-Ray burner for $100!
climacs
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Sep 2001
NetFlix too
02/11, 05:14pm reply
Netflix did the same thing today...announcing that they are going Blu-Ray only going forward. No new HD-DVDs added and any HD-DVDs listed in your queue will be converted to standard DVDs...
digitaldch
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Feb 2008
Lower the price of movies
02/11, 05:28pm reply
Lower the price of movies and players and let's get this party started. I already have a PS3, but want the movies to be cheaper. I don't mind if the Bluray movies are $2 above the regular ones, but $10 - nevermind.
bommai
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Feb 2001
Netflix Still Has HD-DVDs
02/11, 05:46pm reply
digitaldch.... that is not true!!!
Netflix said they will continue renting all existing HD-DVDs they have in stock until they reach the end of their cycle life. Nowhere in their announcement did they say they were changing your queue to normal DVDs.
"Netflix subscribers can still rent the remaining HD DVD titles until the discs’ natural life cycles take them out of circulation. The company plans to fully abandon HD DVD by the end of the year."
See the story at
http://www.macworld.com/article/132047/2008/02/netflix.html
jhawk95
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Oct 2006
Netflix Removing HD-DVD
02/11, 06:15pm reply
Netflix WILL be removing HD-DVDs from your queue.
From the e-mail announcement I received from Netflix today...
"Toward the end of February, HD DVDs in your Saved Queue will automatically be changed to standard definition DVDs. Then toward the end of this year, all HD DVDs in your Queue will be changed to standard definition DVDs. Don't worry, we will contact you before this happens."
Lava Lamp Freak
Senior User
Joined: Sep 2003
Bold move
02/11, 10:09pm reply
I am so impressed with Best Buy making the bold move by pushing Blu-Ray over BetaMax. The CEO of this operation is taking a big gamble, keep an eye on this company they are the trailblazers of the industry.
(I heard they also might start carrying iPods soon).
ClevelandAdv
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jul 2004
netflix queues
02/11, 10:43pm reply
There's a difference. The "saved queue" is for discs that haven't been released yet. Netflix converting them by the end of the month is purely a statement that they will not buy any new HD DVD discs after that point. Your regular queue contains discs they already own, which is why they won't change over for quite a few months, when the discs will have become too scratched up to send out anymore. That's probably another reason they switched. HD DVD discs are as scratch-prone as DVDs, but cost a lot more to replace. Since Netflix doesn't charge more for HD DVD rentals, it's not worth it.
Titanium Man
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2001
best buy
02/12, 11:44am reply
seems a little, well, odd to me.
They make a bold move like this, yet they won't carry a reasonable assortment of Mac software. At MacWorld (oh yes. they were there) one of the reps said something to the effect of "the company doesn't want to take the chance... Tell your local Best Buy management..."
Flying Meat
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jan 2007
So long HD-DVD,
02/12, 12:30pm reply
you never even made it to first base.
SillyPooh
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Joined: May 2000