HD-DVD Going the Distance With $2.7 Million Superbowl Spot

[admin]

Rocky always refused to go down, even if his face got beaten into Hamburger Helper. Despite looking like Rocky sans the steadfastly loyal fan base, the folks behind HD-DVD are trying to get that cinematic comeback-when-the-chips-are-down win... or at least some sort of moral victory.

http://www.switched.com/2008/01/29/hd-dvd-going-the-distance-with-superbowl-spot/

And also:

HD DVD hardware totaled about 33% of all high-definition set-top unit sales for the week ended Jan. 19, according to NPD Group data, marking a rebound from the prior week when Blu-ray Disc commanded 90% of high-def player purchases.

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6526968.html?nid=3514

The previous week of 90% sales for Blu-ray I think included give-aways by Sony, which just shows if the price is right (or free), people will buy. The breakdown of last week's numbers showed that Blu-ray went up by about 5,000 units as part of the give-away, while HD DVD players dropped dramatically due to the Warner decision. Overall, the HDM market actually dropped by about 10,000 units.

[damanisjon]

The previous week of 90% sales for Blu-ray I think included give-aways by Sony, which just shows if the price is right (or free), people will buy. The breakdown of last week's numbers showed that Blu-ray went up by about 5,000 units as part of the give-away, while HD DVD players dropped dramatically due to the Warner decision. Overall, the HDM market actually dropped by about 10,000 units.

Dont know! ''I think'' doesnt sound like information based on facts!

[Dan]

Dont know! ''I think'' doesnt sound like information based on facts!

Well aren't we just a ray of sunshine.

From the link provided.

NPD analyst Stephen Baker earlier said heavy Blu-ray promotions during early 2008 contributed to that format’s huge surge during Jan. 5 to Jan. 12.

Heavy promos are a fact, "I think" was likely referring to Sony being involved.

[BR7]

It was a waste of 2.7 Mil
A lot of the US did not see the commercial because it was slotted in the spot where locals were allowed to air their adds.I watched all the super bowl from beginning to end and the commercial did not air here in Iowa

Dont know! ''I think'' doesnt sound like information based on facts!

The recent Nielson rating has it 82:18

[admin]

Dont know! ''I think'' doesnt sound like information based on facts!

Facts (from NDP themselves):

However, "One week doesn't really mean a lot," said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis for NPD.  That week in particular, there were numerous promotions for free Blu-ray players with the purchase of an HDTV.  Big box retailers also discounted some players that week to their lowest advertised price to date.

"With promotions, it's very easy to manipulate a week's worth of sales," said Baker.  "We cannot make judgments based on one week's worth of data."

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/35786/113/

The very next week showed HD DVD back at around 33% of market share, which is not bad for a "dead" format:

http://news.sky.com/skynews/xml/article/tech/0,,91221-12532,00.html

Note this paragraph from the above article:

The previous week's figures from NPD had reported that Blu-ray had enjoyed a 90% market share, although it was later revealed that these figures were leaked, and not meant for release due to high Blu-ray "free player" promotional activity.

I stand by my original estimate of 5,000 giveaway players being included, although it was still a huge victory for Blu-ray in that week due to HD DVD sales plumetting as I had mentioned (so not 90/10, but more like 80/20 if you take out the giveaways).

The main point I was making was that overall HD player sales dropped, which showed perhaps people were even more confused as to which format to go for, or sensing an end to the format war, they've now decided to wait until it happens officially. Or perhaps HD DVD was attracting people who otherwise weren't going to get into HD (ie. those without large budgets, those wanting region-free, and people who wanted to buy the XE1/XA2 for the upscaling capabilities), and now that they are unsure of HD DVD's survival, and cannot afford Blu-ray (or are waiting for Profile 1.1 players), they've decided not to get into HD for now.

I suspect Toshiba will change tact and market HD DVD to those who are in the market for upscaling DVD players ("buy a Toshiba DVD upscaler, get HD DVD playback as a bonus!"), which currently, represents a much bigger group than people who want real HD content. I'm one of those that believe real HD content is head and shoulders above upscaled content, but for many, they can't see a difference or simply don't care.