Walmart prices Q4 DVD new releases at $10

[KYThrill]

It must be getting bad for the Blu-haters like Lee. I've noticed several times recently where people have posted an item that they think is negative for Blu-ray, only to find out just how positive it is.

The haters are starting to have trouble even finding potentially bad news for blu.

I think Hollywood is dreaming of a blu Christmas this year (and I have a feeling they will get it).

[KYThrill]

Originally Posted by ack_bak

If Walmart was only lowering DVD prices but not Blu-Ray prices I would agree that it would be bad for HDM adoption. But that is not the case. Both Blu-Ray and DVD are being discounted by Walmart, and Walmart is forcing lower prices at Amazon at least for Blu-Ray. What is interesting at Amazon, is that they seem willing to match Walmart on Blu-Ray pricing, but not on DVD (ie most of those new releases are $4-6 more at Amazon).

And remember, these DVD prices are online only I believe. Not in store.

I also believe they are only for pre-orders, and prices go up on release. How many people really pre-order movies in the scheme of things?

[Kosty]

The Blu-ray pricing discounts are there although its not as prominent as the DVD discount promotion. You have to go to the Blu-ray page of the Wal-Mart site to see them.

[Lee Stewart]

Originally Posted by KYThrill

It must be getting bad for the Blu-haters like Lee. I've noticed several times recently where people have posted an item that they think is negative for Blu-ray, only to find out just how positive it is.

The haters are starting to have trouble even finding potentially bad news for blu.

I think Hollywood is dreaming of a blu Christmas this year (and I have a feeling they will get it).

Spoken like the true BD lover that you are!

[Kosty]

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

Spoken like the true BD lover that you are!

For the record Lee, I don't categorize you as a Blu-ray hater at all.

Clinically depressed Blu-ray skeptic maybe.... j/k

I think you can be rightly considered a Blu-ray skeptic, and as Seinfeld famously said, " Not like there's anything wrong with that...."


(Now there is one guy around here that is having a really bad day and he may fit into that category, but its not you.)

[GizmoDVD]

Originally Posted by ack_bak

Yeah, they are aggressively pricing their Blu-Ray movies as well and are forcing Amazon to price match.

Great times to be a Blu-Ray owner!

Bad time for studios as they are devaluing the products far to fast and will once again cauce the very reason why DVD is fumbling the ball the past few years.

[GizmoDVD]

Originally Posted by KYThrill

It must be getting bad for the Blu-haters like Lee. I've noticed several times recently where people have posted an item that they think is negative for Blu-ray, only to find out just how positive it is.

The haters are starting to have trouble even finding potentially bad news for blu.

I think Hollywood is dreaming of a blu Christmas this year (and I have a feeling they will get it).

As I said before, lowering prices is a good thing but drastically lowering them too fast will condition consumers to wait for those lower prices again. The reason why Blu-ray (and HD DVD) was essentially invented was so studios could re-sell you movies again at a higher pricetag. When the bar is now set so low, who will ever pay a high price tag again? I know I certainly won't pay $20 for a new release after the recent Wal-Mart/Amazon sales event.

Low prices may hurt the chances of lower profile titles coming out because the studios may have wanted to price them at a premium because of the amount of work put into cleaning them up and their popularity and may not be able to make the money back selling them for $10-$15.

I'm all for lower prices, but when prices drop so fast their gonna have another $5 Wal-Mart dumpbin problem.

Releasing waves of budget titles is one thing (Catwoman, Creepshow, Cutthroat Island etc.), but when they come too often who is going to pay $25 for Forrest Gump? I would have last year, but now..I'll wait till its $12-$14. I doubt that's what Paramount wants consumers to do but I can't be bothered to spend that much on one movie.

[ack_bak]

Originally Posted by Malanthius

Still these are big titles! When someone sees Star Trek for 10 bucks that could definately be a deal breaker if they were maybe considering a BR player. They might see this as a possible new trend frm the studios. When have we ever seen new titles like this for 10 bucks? I do howeve agree that if this is only online the impact in BR will be less.

I have seen new titles for $10 on DVD but not on release week. Clearly Walmart is being very aggressive with their online store. And yeah, these are great deals (both DVD and Blu-Ray). The thing that pisses me off about Walmart is their local stores will not price match their online store.

[ack_bak]

Originally Posted by GizmoDVD

Bad time for studios as they are devaluing the products far to fast and will once again cauce the very reason why DVD is fumbling the ball the past few years.

The game has changed. $1 Redbox and Blockbuster kiosk rentals and cheap mail-order plans from Netflix and Blockuster are forcing the studios and retailers hand on pricing.

Which is better for them? Sell you the movie for $10-20 or have you rent it for $1-3?

[GizmoDVD]

Originally Posted by ack_bak

The game has changed. $1 Redbox and Blockbuster kiosk rentals and cheap mail-order plans from Netflix and Blockuster are forcing the studios and retailers hand on pricing.

Which is better for them? Sell you the movie for $10-20 or have you rent it for $1-3?

$1 Redbox rentals isn't an issue for Blu-ray since their stocked in only a few machines.

Netflix/BBO might be an issue...but BD/HD have been available for both services since 2006 and the prices have only gone up since the demise of HD DVD.

The pricing is just dropping to fast to soon. I can't imagine the studios are thrilled that their potential cash cow (Blu-ray) is now resorting to 2004 DVD prices.

[JAGUAR1977]

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

Doesn't the price difference affect BD adoption?

Do you not think $10 new DVD releases is more like a last hurrah for the format, rather than a sustainable future plan?

The only way I could see this working longer term is if the DVDs became bare bones releases.

[KYThrill]

Originally Posted by GizmoDVD

$1 Redbox rentals isn't an issue for Blu-ray since their stocked in only a few machines.

Netflix/BBO might be an issue...but BD/HD have been available for both services since 2006 and the prices have only gone up since the demise of HD DVD.

The pricing is just dropping to fast to soon. I can't imagine the studios are thrilled that their potential cash cow (Blu-ray) is now resorting to 2004 DVD prices.

BUt by next year every Redbox will have $1 BD's too. So it is an issue, one the studios have to work to avoid before it becomes a problem. Better to condition you to buy $10 BD catalogs and $20 BD new releases now, while they still can, than try to do it next summer when Kiosks are renting $1-$2 BD rentals. If they wait till then, they will have waited too long.

[GizmoDVD]

Originally Posted by KYThrill

BUt by next year every Redbox will have $1 BD's too. So it is an issue, one the studios have to work to avoid before it becomes a problem. Better to condition you to buy $10 BD catalogs and $20 BD new releases now, while they still can, than try to do it next summer when Kiosks are renting $1-$2 BD rentals. If they wait till then, they will have waited too long.

Do you have a link to Redbox carrying Blu-ray in every machine? That's (currently) over 17,000 machines.

[ack_bak]

Originally Posted by GizmoDVD

As I said before, lowering prices is a good thing but drastically lowering them too fast will condition consumers to wait for those lower prices again. The reason why Blu-ray (and HD DVD) was essentially invented was so studios could re-sell you movies again at a higher pricetag. When the bar is now set so low, who will ever pay a high price tag again? I know I certainly won't pay $20 for a new release after the recent Wal-Mart/Amazon sales event.

I don't see $19.99 on a new release Blu-Ray disc or $14-19 on new release catalog titles as being "drastically lowering". Not when the DVD still costs $5-10 less on average for the cheaper version. And come on, how much do you think it really costs the studio to print a DVD or a Blu-Ray after the mastering has been done?

And some of this is just part of the cycle of having a new format. Price for hardware and software is typically high in the beginning and gradually the costs for everyone (studios, retailers, CE's, consumers, etc) lowers. There are many reasons for Blu-Ray prices lowering right now. Holidays, replication costs, more hardware in people's homes, more stores carrying the product, more people renting thus the push for lower pricing on sales.

Low prices may hurt the chances of lower profile titles coming out because the studios may have wanted to price them at a premium because of the amount of work put into cleaning them up and their popularity and may not be able to make the money back selling them for $10-$15.

Remastering a movie benefits a lot more than just Blu-Ray. Think cable/sat, downloads, etc.

I'm all for lower prices, but when prices drop so fast their gonna have another $5 Wal-Mart dumpbin problem.

I don't know if we will see dump bins anytime soon, at least in stores. Walmart seems to be moving away from the dump bins and my local store no longer has them.

Releasing waves of budget titles is one thing (Catwoman, Creepshow, Cutthroat Island etc.), but when they come too often who is going to pay $25 for Forrest Gump? I would have last year, but now..I'll wait till its $12-$14. I doubt that's what Paramount wants consumers to do but I can't be bothered to spend that much on one movie.

I have had this mindset for years, unless it is a must have title. This dates back to DVD for me. Nothing really new here. Waiting a few weeks or months has always been the smart choice for home video.

[Kid Banana]

Originally Posted by Rich86

Maybe those folks are perfectly satisfied with what they have and are not interested in getting involved with another different optical media format? It seems to me it is everyone's individual choice.

I'd wager there are a lot of those folks around but I'd also bet that they don't spend their time posting here.

Low DVD prices are good news for people who still want to buy DVDs (and currently there are a lot of them) but the aggressive pricing on DVD titles is more down to declining sales and a drive to get consumers back to B&M stores to spend cash on other stuff.

Blu-ray is not a wal-mart staple yet but it's getting there.