Confused about Christmas?
November 21, 2008

So many decisions to make this time of year. 
Mashed potatoes or sweet?
Cranberry relish or jellied, the jiggly kind that holds the shape of the can? 
Whether to give gifts at all, given the way our long-term savings are going up in smoke?

Assuming that last decision is in the positive, there’s the age-old what to shop for and now, for
home entertainment consumers, when.

Is it time to jump in and buy a Blu-ray player? You can get one for less than $200 all over the place. Will it go down further before Christmas?

Meanwhile, those ads for Toshiba’s XDE player that promise to enhance all your current DVDs for just $99.99 make it sound pretty good too.

To get the best price on the hot new titles, is it best to shop Tuesday or Sunday? Maybe Friday? (I don’t personally know any people who go to the store to buy a movie the day it comes out, but I believe they’re out there.)

The studios, with their emphasis on Blu-ray this holiday season, and their Friday, Saturday, Sunday street dates, are just trying to gain an advantage, however small, in their quest to shore up, and ultimately reinvigorate, packaged media sales.

Growth may not return for another year or two, but they’d like it to start as soon as possible.

Posted by Marcy Magiera on November 21, 2008 | Comments (0)