So I guess now that BlockBuster has decided to go only Blu-Ray in its stores and they have virtually eliminated all of their online subscribers by changing their in-store return policy are they the biggest losers in the format war?

Think about this! Shrek 3 and Transformers are going to come out on HD-DVD and they won’t be able to carry either of them in the stores and they won’t have any online subscribers left. Will they go bankrupt by years end?

Blockbuster is the biggest video rental right now holding most of the market share. They
won't go bankrupt because there is more Blu-Ray hardware out there than it is HD-DVD.
Plus, there is a DVD option. It's not like you can't watch is period. Just a lower resolution
and compressed audio.

Blockbuster is going to lose customers if they don’t start supporting HD DVD soon. With a few more moves, HD DVD can take this thing and become the dominant format. If they have the “gut” to pull off the Paramount / DreamWorks deal, something tells me they won’t hold back from other bold steps.

Yes ! :)

Financially, BB has taken a beating from NetFlix over the past couple of years. They have been closing stores.

At this time, there is nothing beyond anecdotal evidence to suggest that this will have even a minor impact on their overall profitability. However, if they manage to push a portion of the early adopters to stop renting from them (I would be in this group), it can't help.

Under any circumstances, I find it interesting that they always have banners in the store trumpeting their exclusivity with Weinstein studios.....who are HD DVD exclusive.:confused:

I think they allowed themselves to be snookered; it's too early in the game to take sides at the retail level, and not enough money was reportedly involved to make it worth alienating customers.

Blockbuster is the biggest video rental right now holding most of the market share. They
won't go bankrupt because there is more Blu-Ray hardware out there than it is HD-DVD.
Plus, there is a DVD option. It's not like you can't watch is period. Just a lower resolution
and compressed audio.

Yea but BB is hemorrhaging money like crazy and their customer base is switching to their competitor at an alarming rate. Online video rentals are becoming very popular so the latest news really has to hurt BB badly, doesn’t it?

So I guess now that BlockBuster has decided to go only Blu-Ray in its stores

Well lets be fair, they rolled BD past their initial 300 or so stores to an additional 1,400 or so. HD DVD is still in the original stores and BD is only in about 25% of their stores total (likely the ones with the largest gamer demographics). They've already stated they'd expand HD DVD when they see demand (though how demand for these formats is gauged is... questionable).

Blockbuster should just ditch both formats until one is the overwhelming winner or dual-format players are the standard/majority. My Blockbuster has both formats, but the selection is laughable, and I don't think they're doing too much business off either format right now.

I don't think this really makes a difference to BB, at least at this point, because the numbers for both HD-DVD and BR are so tiny compared to DVD.

Blockbuster is in trouble in ways that make their stance on HDM seem like a pesky fly, but now the fly has friends.

Yea but BB is hemorrhaging money like crazy and their customer base is switching to their competitor at an alarming rate. Online video rentals are becoming very popular so the latest news really has to hurt BB badly, doesn’t it?


Do you mean like when Netflix announced its first drop in subscriptions since it came into existence?:rolleyes:

Yeah, they're the 'looser' alright. As in, loose pants? What?

Ridiculous question by OP. They are losing about 35% of a slice that is about 3% of the total market share. Blockbuster won't even notice, and implying bankrupcy because they lack two relatively large titles in HD is just plain silly. They may go bankrupt for other reasons, but HD will have nothing to do with it.

Blockbuster should just ditch both formats until one is the overwhelming winner or dual-format players are the standard/majority. My Blockbuster has both formats, but the selection is laughable, and I don't think they're doing too much business off either format right now.


Absolutely correct. The people who say BB was short-sighted are laughable.

1. have you ever been in a BB store? It is like a freakin sardine can in there. Their shelf space is at an absolute premium.

2. They repeatedly said that they did this because 70% of their HDM customers wanted BR

3. YOU CAN GET HD DVD's ONLINE!!!

If anything they were being attempting to be innovative......

Did it work? who knows.

I find it hard to believe that this will change anything for them, they will still rent HD DVD at some locations and online. They will have all of the d/d releases on HD DVD.

Ridiculous question by OP. They are losing about 35% of a slice that is about 3% of the total market share. Blockbuster won't even notice, and implying bankrupcy because they lack two relatively large titles in HD is just plain silly. They may go bankrupt for other reasons, but HD will have nothing to do with it.

I never said they would go bankrupt from the Format war. I said they would go bankrupt and that the format war will hurt them. I think they will go bankrupt because they keep using bait and switch tactics.

I didn’t realize that so many stores still had HD-DVD. My local store only has BLU-RAY. Everyone is right the format war will not hurt them as much if they do carry both formats in some stores.

Do some HD-DVD owners hope Blockbuster goes bankrupt because they don't support their format?

Yes indeed. Will they go bankrupt because they don't support their format? No they will not, and if they do, it ain't happening this year. Get real people.

The format war wouldn't hurt Blockbuster this year no matter what they do...they could carry all movies, no movies...it's not like these things are, or will be renting in such volume to make that much a difference. Seriously...to think they would is almost absurd.

So I guess now that BlockBuster has decided to go only Blu-Ray in its stores and they have virtually eliminated all of their online subscribers by changing their in-store return policy are they the biggest losers in the format war?

Think about this! Shrek 3 and Transformers are going to come out on HD-DVD and they won’t be able to carry either of them in the stores and they won’t have any online subscribers left. Will they go bankrupt by years end?


Your making wild assumptions consumers will choose HD-DVD over Blu-ray, in the process passing up on Disney/Pixar, Sony and FOX?

Ratatouille, Die Hard 4.0, Simpsons, POTC 3, Spiderman 3 etc, will still ensure most consumers will buy Blu-ray over HD-DVD.

What if market share remains stable, or even increases in Blu-rays favour now Fox are back in the game?

HD-DVD reducing player prices didn't bite into Blu-rays market share, why would this?

My local Blockbuster rents both (a trial store). Two days after 300 was released the HD DVD copy was still on the shelf along with one of the two Blu-Ray copies. I seriously don't think the HDM market in stores is going to make or break BB. They have bigger problems to deal with.

I never said they would go bankrupt from the Format war. I said they would go bankrupt and that the format war will hurt them. I think they will go bankrupt because they keep using bait and switch tactics.

I didn’t realize that so many stores still had HD-DVD. My local store only has BLU-RAY. Everyone is right the format war will not hurt them as much if they do carry both formats in some stores.

Thanks for the clarification. The question is how many aisles they want to set up for HDM when it accounts for such a small portion of their revenue. If they stick to one (the most selling) format, they minimize their cost, while still testing out the HDM waters.

One more thing BB is currently signing up online customers at a rate of nearly 2:1 over Netflix. Yes they do only have half the customer base but Netflix is actually losing customer base and Blockbuster is gaining customer base. So those of you that think Netflix is king think again.

One more thing BB is currently signing up online customers at a rate of nearly 2:1 over Netflix. Yes they do only have half the customer base but Netflix is actually losing customer base and Blockbuster is gaining customer base. So those of you that think Netflix is king think again.

Sorry but your news is old now. That was last month before BlockBuster decided to alienate all of its online customer base by removing its single biggest selling points(Free coupons and in-store returns). I predict 33% of all of BB’s online customers will switch to Netflix this month. That would be a HUGE loss for BB and a tremendous gain for Netflix. Just wait till the end of this quarter to see how well BB is doing!