HD DVD player sales reach 750,000 units
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By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 11/27/2007
NOV. 27 | Following heavy Black Friday discounting, HD DVD players have collectively sold more than 750,000 units, according to the North American HD DVD Promotional Group.
That figure encompasses lifetime sales of both Toshiba stand-alone models and Xbox 360 HD DVD players.
“HD DVD continues to gain momentum and market share with customers,” said Ken Graffeo, executive VP of HD strategic marketing for Universal Studios Home Entertainment and co-president of the HD DVD Promotional Group. “With more than four weeks left for holiday shopping, HD DVD is turning out to be a perfect consumer electronics gift.”
The HD DVD Promotional Group declined to further breakdown hardware sales.
But the numbers mark a significant bump in player movement over the last several weeks, assuming that HD DVD set-top sales have achieved around 500,000 in sales. The NPD Group separately estimates that Xbox 360 HD DVD sales totaled 250,000 to date through October.
Prior to Wal-Mart and Best Buy pricing Toshiba’s HD-A2 player down to $99 on Nov. 2, more than 300,000 Toshiba stand-alones had shipped into U.S. retail through September, according to DisplaySearch.
Through the Nov. 2 Friday-Sunday weekend, Toshiba sold 90,000 players, according to retail sources.
The price slashing didn’t stop there. Toshiba granted retailers $100-off rebates for its latest third-generation models, which Best Buy and Amazon.com, among others, used to offer the HD-A3 for $199 through the Black Friday weekend.
Figuring approximately 390,000 set-tops sold through the first week in November, the Black Friday frame represented an additional 28% jolt in sales, to reach 500,000 units sold.
Although clearly enjoying a sales surge, HD DVD players still trail Blu-ray hardware sales, as the Blu-ray-capable PlayStation 3 has sold 2 million units in North America.