[Sean_O]

 http://www.betanews.com/article/prin...nth/1201203983



Thanks to forum member jwebb1970 for posting the link.


Discuss.

 

[MidnightWatcher]

Not surprised at all.

Quote:
NPD: Free Blu-ray player deals led to boosted sales this month

By Nate Mook , BetaNews

January 24, 2008, 2:46 PM

A report from NPD Group claimed Blu-ray standalone player sales accounted for 93 percent of the high-def market for the week ending January 12, but NPD itself won't stand behind the numbers , saying they were leaked and that weekly sales data is not a long-term indicator.

According to Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis for NPD, the data "came from an NPD subscriber" and "wasn't approved for release from NPD." He added that the firm typically sees big fluctuations in sales volumes each week, and never makes long-term judgements based on weekly data.


"It reflects what was going on during that week," Baker said, adding that it wasn't smart to "extrapolate that out for six months.


"So what went on the week ending January 12 that led to such high numbers in Blu-ray standalone player sales? Bundling deals with HDTVs, explained Baker. Sharp Blu-ray players accounted for over 30% of sales, as they were offered free to buyers of the company's LCD televisions.


Sony -- also accounting for one-third of sales -- had a similar $400-off deal for Blu-ray players when buying a Sony HDTV.


Panasonic, like Sharp, offered a free Blu-ray player and made up for the remaining third of units sold. Samsung Blu-ray sales were almost non-existent, as the company did not offer any special deals to TV buyers.


The NPD figures did not include Sony's PlayStation 3 or Microsoft's HD DVD add-on for the Xbox 360 -- only standalone players.


Baker wouldn't get specific -- since NPD normally never even comments on weekly sales data -- but said there was some drop in HD DVD player sales. For its part, the HD DVD Promotional Group told BetaNews the weekly sales data was from before the HD DVD player price drop Toshiba announced last week.


Baker did provide BetaNews some insight as to how NPD counts sales. It receives its data from point-of-sale systems from a number of retail outlets across the United States. He would not say how many retailers send data to NPD, but said it was "double digits."


NPD's numbers do not include online sales from the likes of Amazon, where Toshiba's HD-A3 HD DVD player is the number one seller in the DVD player category and number 14 in all of electronics. By contrast, standalone Blu-ray players do not make the electronics list.

 

[jiopsi]

So, hardware sales are still hardware sales, no matter what was bundled with what.

 

[MidnightWatcher]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jiopsi /forum/post/12922483


So, hardware sales are still hardware sales, no matter what was bundled with what.

And I bet that HD DVD standalone player sales have once again surpassed Blu-ray standalone sales since the price drop.

 

[binici]

So... basically the BDA is giving away standalone players? Guess I should have waited for these promotions, but I ended buying my tv three months ago. Oh well, I guess even though they are giving those away, they are still counting them as sales? How much do they lose out on this?


I wonder if Toshiba will do something similar?

 

[jugganutz]

well 1% of players were actually bought and not from people upgrading there tv's. Thats why its a big deal. also double digit for there reports from retailers thats such a small number. That could be 10 retailers reporting to them for there numbers. Bill hunt goofed again by releasing that rumor into the wild.

 

[Sean_O]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jiopsi /forum/post/12922483


So, hardware sales are still hardware sales, no matter what was bundled with what.

They were not hardware sales at all, they were given away to people who were buying HDTV sets.


Unless you believe that the BD players were the deciding factor in those HDTV purchases, even though the article says they moved next to no BD players outside of those that were given away.

 

[eskimo2176]



Quote:
Originally Posted by binici /forum/post/12922530


So... basically the BDA is giving away standalone players? Guess I should have waited for these promotions, but I ended buying my tv three months ago. Oh well, I guess even though they are giving those away, they are still counting them as sales? How much do they lose out on this?


I wonder if Toshiba will do something similar?

Toshiba was doing something similar last summer, as two of my friends picked up A-20s with the purchase of their Regza LCDs.

 

[WayneL]

Shows that NPD figures aren't reliable

 

[jwebb1970]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Sean_O /forum/post/12922410

http://www.betanews.com/article/prin...nth/1201203983



Thanks to forum member jwebb1970 for posting the link.


Discuss.

You're welcome!



Figured this would go in the "news' thread (which is where I put it) & let someone else do a specific thread.


Now, ladies.....let's not get this one locked over a catfight, please!!!!!

 

[AJ_Syrinx]

Well that just goes to show about these "weekly" reports.

 

[Lodef]

I knew this was a BS graph the minute I saw it!

 

[SomethingMore]

figures.

 

[Sean_O]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Lodef /forum/post/12922608


I knew this was a BS graph the minute I saw it!

I think that was the consensus, and probably why the NPD group is speaking out about such a wildly misleading graph.


They must be upset with whichever NPD subscriber leaked that info. Stuff like this could seriously tarnish their reputation in the industry.

 

[Kork]

I'm still surprised by the numbers of BR players sold during December. I expect the trend to continue that way and obviously the 93:7 ratio of the 2nd week of January isn't part of that trend. It's more around 60:40 in favor of Blu-ray since December.


Many people wondered why HD DVD software sales weren't catching up (myself included) and looking at those numbers you understand why. BR players and HD DVD players basically sold equally in 2007 without factoring the PS3.


As food for thought the PS3 is currently selling around 50k units per week in NA. Sadly it's impossible to say how many are used mainly as a BR player.


As far as the promotion goes BR players went from 15k to 21k the week of the promotion. I don't think you can conclude anything with only 2 weeks of data though.


I still don't get how HD DVD only sold 1k players during the 2nd week. It's obviously part of the reason why Toshiba slashed the price on players again.

 

[Hughmc]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Sean_O /forum/post/12922549


They were not hardware sales at all, they were given away to people who were buying HDTV sets.


Unless you believe that the BD players were the deciding factor in those HDTV purchases, even though the article says they moved next to no BD players outside of those that were given away.

Same as the bogos. No one got any movie for free. They still paid half price. Half price or even free counts as a sale, maybe not on here or in the world of marketing spin, but it does count.


Look, people spent money regardless of the spin either way. No one really got anything for free. You never save money by spending it.


And 10-1 as far as sales and tax right offs go, they (CE stores) will show the player being sold at full price and taking a loss on the tv or vice versa.


Typical American gullibility: Look we got a free set of car mats with the new car we bought....please!


I have a friend who "saves" money everytime something is on sale. I asked if he would have bought it anyway and he said no. I then asked how could he have saved money by spending it on something he wouldn't have bought? He looked clueless as he just didn't get it.

 

[AJ_Syrinx]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Sean_O /forum/post/12922644


I think that was the consensus, and probably why the NPD group is speaking out about such a wildly misleading graph.


They must be upset with whichever NPD subscriber leaked that info. Stuff like this could seriously tarnish their reputation in the industry.

You are correct. NPD is one of the premier sources of data in which all these corporations base their decisions on and they wouldn't want to lose that coveted status.


I've never seen higher interest in leaking NPD data before.

 

[binici]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Kork /forum/post/12922656


I'm still surprised by the numbers of BR players sold during December. I expect the trend to continue that way and obviously the 93:7 ratio of the 2nd week of January isn't part of that trend. It's more around 60:40 in favor of Blu-ray since December.


Many people wondered why HD DVD software sales weren't catching up (myself included) and looking at those numbers you understand why. BR players and HD DVD players basically sold equally in 2007 without factoring the PS3.


As food for thought the PS3 is currently selling around 50k units per week in NA. Sadly it's impossible to say how many are used mainly as a BR player.


As far as the promotion goes BR players went from 15k to 21k the week of the promotion. I don't think you can conclude anything with only 2 weeks of data though.


I still don't get how HD DVD only sold 1k players during the 2nd week. It's obviously part of the reason why Toshiba slashed the price on players again.

Ya, it is interesting, but most likely Toshiba's players have outsold all DVD and HD players after the slash. We will see if Blu-ray players for December and after the announcement were just because of those factors. It will be interesting to see if Blu-ray players being sold come to a halt?

 

[JAC6]

Players in the wild are players in the wild. And, even if you exclude Blu-Ray players packaged with big expensive HDTVs, what does that make the number? 85-15?

 

[bigbarney]



Quote:
Originally Posted by WayneL /forum/post/12922589


Shows that NPD figures aren't reliable

I've been saying that for a long time now.