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Written by Michael Lankton
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Tuesday, 06 November 2007 |
 While it was announced last week that Kmart would only be offering HD DVD players in it's stores, the company has issued a statement declaring that the reports last week were false.
Jonathan Magasanik, Vice President and General Merchandise Manager of home electronics for Sears Holdings attributed the reports to Toshiba. "Kmart plans to support both the HD DVD and Blu-ray platforms, and
has no plans to support either platform exclusively,” Magasanik said.
Whether or not this is a case of Kmart backpedaling and then trying to focus blame elsewhere, or another example of a bloodthirsty consumer electronics press taking something out of context and then running with it is unknown.
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Written by Michael Lankton
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Monday, 05 November 2007 |
 Warner Bros did some backpedaling today, citing that statements made by Warner VP of High-Definition Media Dan Silverberg last week were taken out of context.
High Def Digest spoke to Jim Noonan, SVP of Strategic Promotion and Communication
for Warner Home Entertainment Group, who said "I can tell you that Warner's position has not
changed, and I know that Dan did not intend to suggest that wasn't the case.
We support both formats and we have made no decision to alter that policy, nor
are there any such announcements coming, or being planned." Asked about any short-term plans for a move to exclusivity, Noonan dismissed rumors regarding such a decision based on fourth quarter sales with "Like any major company, we are always reviewing our strategies in every
aspect of our business, it is what smart companies do. I can't say what may
happen five, ten years down the line. But right now, Warner Bros. has made no
decision to change course. We are still onboard with both formats, and will
continue [with a strong line-up of new releases and catalog titles], just
as we have in the past in supporting HD DVD and Blu-ray."
At this time, Warner seems committed to not having a hand in deciding the outcome of this struggle.
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Written by Michael Lankton
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Friday, 02 November 2007 |
Nationwide retailer Kmart won't be stocking Blu Ray players anytime soon, citing the high cost of Blu Ray hardware.
Kmart will instead focus their high definition area on rival HD DVD. High pricing that drives the demand for Blu Ray players away from the mass market toward home theater enthusiasts is specified as the motivation for embracing HD DVD and shunning Blu Ray in Kmart retail outlets.
Blu Ray advocates state the recent low price announcements regarding HD DVD hardware are a sign of desparation. The low prices may mean the difference between wish list and shopping cart to holiday shoppers this Christmas season, and it will be interesting to see how much market share HD DVD can leverage from the price cuts. |
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Written by Michael Lankton
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Tuesday, 30 October 2007 |
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 Home Media Magazine is reporting some statements made by a Warner Brothers VP from the two day Blu Ray Festival industry pep rally.
Dan Silverberg, VP of high definition media at Warner Home Video, was quoted Monday as saying "One thing that may be changing is our strategy. When both formats launched and hardware prices were high, we made a decision to support both formats and let the consumer decide. But now that hardware pricing is affordable for both Blu Ray and HD DVD, it appears consumers no longer want to decide, so the notion of staying in two formats for the duration is something we are re-evaluating now that we are in the fourth quarter.". Silverberg also said "We can definitely talk Blu Ray. We are commited to the format.". Warner abandoning either side for exclusivity would be a crushing blow to the unlucky side. Again, fourth quarter sales are going to make or break this Format War, so we'll just have to keep an eye on things and see if any more telling quotes surface. |
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Written by Michael Lankton
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Tuesday, 16 October 2007 |
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In Format War 101 we ran down what Blu Ray and HD DVD do and elaborated on the features.
Format War 201 focused on the history of the two formats, and exclusive relationships the two sides have forged with content providers and retailers.
Now it's time for the third and final semester of this elective course, and I'm going to tell you what I really think about the whole thing. First, I just want to say that movies taken from good transfers that receive quality encoding treatment on both Blu Ray and HD DVD look fantastic. As a film lover, I couldn't be happier. I definitely find myself buying titles that would otherwise be rentals for me, because I am so impressed with the video and audio fidelity the two formats are capable of providing.
Beyond whatever reason you favor one format or the other, I hope we all agree that it's the movies that really count here. |
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