[billabong_84]

Hey...


So today I went to Walmart after work to pick of a few things. As always I made a stop in the electronics department to check out the HD DVD releases and see how they are selling. While I went to the back where HD DVD and bluray are tucked away to see if there was anything new. Well let me tell you that HD DVD has been selling very well, they have 3 shelfs stacked full of bluray that have been sitting there since christmas maybe they have sold about 5. Then HD DVD was getting kinda low it was on 2 shelfs but it was getting down to one self. I asked the sales rep about sales, she told me that she has seen allot more people buying the "RED" hd dvd case, she sad the "blue" ones have just been sitting around gaining a bigger collection. They also had a few PS3 in stock nobody has showed interest in picking one up. The HD DVD drive for the Xbox was soldout again. I asked when she expected some in, she told me she wasn't sure but that they never hang onto them for more than a day or two. Well if that doesn't give you an idea of the sales up here in the north then I don't know what does.


What are sales like in your area? Have you talked to anyone "store rep" or "manager" about them?

 

[kjtatum]

In the US, but as far as Wal-mart goes, my area one only carries Blu-ray and its just two racks in with the PS3 games. They haven't sold a single one, but they do sell out pretty regularly of both the add-on and the PS3. Said they might get HD DVD in eventually. Its a smaller Wal-mart though in a lower income area.


Best Buy near me has a fairly large HD DVD display. The rack of movies near the front of the store doesn't look "shopped" ever but they never have the add-on in stock. Usually sells out quickly. The back rack near the HD DVD standalones looks more shopped. They have 1 endcap with a Sony TV for BD and two TVs in Magnolia with the Samsung and Panasonic BD drives attached. Front rack near the entrance of BD is much more "shopped" than the HD DVD. I asked a few guys what was selling and they said that BD had been selling better lately than HD DVD, but they were having an awful time trying to sell the standalone BD drives. Almost all had been returned after Christmas for PS3s. Not surprising. At most they usually have 1-2 Toshiba players in stock. Sells ok according to them. Better than the BD drives. Most of their BD sales appeared to be attached to a PS3 sale or owner.


Circuit City...didn't talk to anyone, but they had a few add-ons, no HD DVD standalones in stock or on display, and the HD DVDs were relegated to two small, very high on the wall shelf. Nearly impossible for me to find them. BD had a large BD-specific display right next to the HDTVs, clearly bought by the BDA. They had about 3 BD standalones running, including a Samsung in their HDTV "showroom." BD's looked slightly shopped or just not re-stocked. HD DVD didn't look shopped at all.


There's another Best Buy near me also, but didn't check the standalone players. The BD rack was pretty full. HD DVD looked much more shopped. Very LARGE stack of PS3s and a few add-ons in stock.


Not much of a correlation for me really.

 

[Forceflow]

billabong,


Just wait until the BD fanboys come and tell you that your anecdotal evidence means nothing and how Canada sucks because their consumers are shrewder enough to pick the format that doesn't cost 2x as much or foist a game machine without games. I'm sure I'll change my tune on the PS3 when it upsamples PS1/PS2 games and FFXIII keeps me drooling though, but until then its a questionable purchase at best.


HD DVD is doing just as well as what you've observed in the Chicagoland area. Almost all posters (maybe all) have said as much (PeterS has a thread about it in the HD DVD software forum).

 

[ptran]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Forceflow /forum/post/0


Just wait until the BD fanboys come and tell you that your anecdotal evidence means nothing...

Sorry, but what's with this pre-emptive fanboy bashing? It's a sad sight when people stop debating the merits of a format but instead resort to paranoid potshots.


Phat

 

[kjtatum]

I honestly don't see any of the anecdotal evidence of dominance either side claims. My experiences vary greatly just within a single county in NJ. (i'm up here finishing grad school)


I'm relocating to KY and my time down there has shown me that the PS3 and BD seem to be out of most peoples price range, but so is HD DVD. Neither gets shopped that much. In fact, the Best Buy there rarely looks shopped at all. Circuit city their has a better HD DVD rack than in NJ, but they said that neither format sells well at all.

 

[purpleosmosis]

I am in southern California and I went before Xmas to a Walmart. They didn't have a Blu-Ray section. They had two Blu-Ray movies selling for 40 dollars that were returned by other customers and locked behind a glass door. I believe they were part of a PS3 bundle. (People returned everything except the player and then resold it on eBay.)


I talked to someone in the electronics section and he said they do not carry blu-ray players so they would likely not carry blu-ray movies. I looked at the PS3 games and shook my head. I spoke with an assistant manager. He didn't even know what Blu-Ray or HD-DVD was. He then said that they have can't carry everything shown on their website. I asked him to tell his bosses my request for Blu-Ray movies and left. I haven't returned since.


Great prices online but I don't know what they are doing in the stores.

 

[kjtatum]

Ehhh...Wal-mart only figures in in that the first time they actually get a player of either format with movies on the shelf will be when either format hits mainstream.


I remember owning a DVD player for about 2 years before my small hobunk KY Wal-mart started stocking DVDs. It was a godsend when I left for college and could go to Best Buy and stuff on a regular basis.


Hell, I kid you not they STILL have VHS tapes at this Wal-mart in question when I visited for Christmas. It was a very small area and very old stock, but they were there.

 

[homerx]

My local walmart is using a flash player to demstrate the PS3. The only problom is when they show the knights tale BLU-ray/DVD comparison, you can't tell the diference. The compressing they did make both side look equal.


But so far no discs yet, but next week a few BD tittles will be put in the case....


Seems to depend on the store, the local target has been seling out of the new BD movies but HD-DVD seems to be just sitting their. Either they're restocking HD or becase they only sell the ps3 they are selling. Theve had the HD add on but its always sold out..

 

[mngmikes]

yeah i don't know what my walmart is doing either... i actually turned 4 of my neighbors on to hddvd and they all have one now... but my walmart in morristown, tn has had one hd movie and it was xmen3 on bluray the same 5 disks that were there when it first came out are still there. =\\ if they would only get hddvd movies they would definently sale a few at least. still the thing that pisses me off most is any time i go in there i can find at least 3 ps3 60gb versions and not one damn wii.

 

[eXgo]

I buy all my alot of titles of BD from walmart in canada.


there is more Bd than HD dvd on the shelves.


that's because they don't replenish the HD dvds.


only when new releases come out.

 

[billabong_84]



Quote:
Originally Posted by eXgo /forum/post/0


I buy all my alot of titles of BD from walmart in canada.


there is more Bd than HD dvd on the shelves.


that's because they don't replenish the HD dvds.


only when new releases come out.

I don't know about that one, I have seen HD DVD stuff being restocked. While BD just sits there, with nobody buying them.

 

[chuckamuck]

Over the holidays I went to the Walmart in Peoria, Arizona. I checked out their video section and found their Blu-rays definitely more picked over than the HD DVDs, which were few in titles but large in their stock, including the ever-popular "Batman Begins." They had an equal number of Blu-rays but they appeared to be selling much better based on fewer numbers of copies and the displaced arrangement that's a trademark of heavy holiday shopping.

 

[LEVESQUE]

There was 12 PS3 60 Gig taking dust at my local Wal-Mart. The manager told me they didn't sold any since Christmas. They sold 2 or 3 HD-DVD X-Box 360 add-on since it's out, and there was 6 units on the shelves.


But I was REALLY surprised to see a demo of the Philips Blu-ray player on a small LCD flat panel! But the screen was too small, and the PQ was really crappy.


There was like 5-6 HD-DVD titles total, and 4 shelves full of almost all the Blu-ray titles on the market. Also, the manager told me that alot of people are buying the Blu-rays "by mistake" and bringing them back since they don't work in their regular DVD players. So now they ask everyone if they have a Blu-ray player, and when they see someone picking one up, they run to tell him "it won't work". Sigh... But like he said: "you're the only one buying the Red and the Blu casing"...

 

[dobyblue]

The Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Future Shop in St. Catharines all seem to have good HD DVD and Blu-ray sections and both formats have been selling fairly well. The Best Buy now includes some Blu-ray titles in their "New Releases" section; Total Recall and Stargate were both CDN$21.99 and The Covenant was also on the New Releases section.


I've posted pics of all three store's sections here.

http://forums.highdefdigest.com/show...89&postcount=3

 

[dobyblue]



Quote:
Originally Posted by LEVESQUE /forum/post/0


So now they ask everyone if they have a Blu-ray player, and when they see someone picking one up, they run to tell him "it won't work". Sigh... But like he said: "you're the only one buying the Red and the Blu casing"...

It's amazing more people don't run through STOP signs if they can't recognize from the price AND the warning that they might not have a DVD in their hands.

 

[GoCheese]



Quote:
Originally Posted by billabong_84 /forum/post/0


I don't know about that one, I have seen HD DVD stuff being restocked. While BD just sits there, with nobody buying them.

Same here, but I guess it depends where you are in Canada. I have gotten alot of my titles from Wal Mart.

 

[deez]

PS3 slow sales is good for standalone BD producers....in fact, i would bet that Pioneer,Panasonic and Philips do not want to see the PS3 have lots of sales.....why would they??


They are trying to push a new format and hardware that is way overpriced......not to mention so many bad BD transfers. I know, I know, I hear it now..."Deez, you wait they are gone release this and that and then..."


Listen, You BD fanboys are gonna tell me PQ is the same and in your tier PQ thread KOH is a 0???


That right there should stop all your arguements....why dont we start a thread on HD discs, regardless of format, and compare tier 0's??


I have both formats and if BD was better in the PQ department i would say it was because i just want the best PQ. I hope HD DVD can improve thier audio quality now to get inline with most of BD.

 

[deria]



Quote:
Originally Posted by deez /forum/post/0


PS3 slow sales is good for standalone BD producers....in fact, i would bet that Pioneer,Panasonic and Philips do not want to see the PS3 have lots of sales.....why would they??

I think that this is the biggest problem that BD has. Basically, unless you really hate the idea of using a game machine to watch movies or you really despise the lack of an IR port on the PS3, you would have to be a moron to buy anything other than the PS3 if you wanted a BD player. With those exceptions, the vast majority of people looking for a BD player are likely to go with the PS3. That has to hurt the CE companies that are supporting the BD format quite a bit (at least until they can drive prices down to something WELL BELOW the cost of a PS3.)


As for HD-DVD movies, I think I missed a sale or something. The Best Buy in Edmonton had the usual stock of BD stuff that I ignore, but had basically empty shelves where the HD-DVD stock usually is. There were some titles, but it looked like there was a buying frenzy or something.