Vudu Price Magic
January 24, 2008

Fledging movie set-top service Vudu has slashed a little over $100 off its original $399 price. But will the new $295 asking price, effective Jan. 24, make Vudu any more appealing to consumers? So much has happened in the world of high-definition movies and broadband-delivered content since Vudu launched in November. At that time, Vudu and Xbox Live were considered the only services that offered high-def content from the major studios. But nowadays, consumers can pick up Apple TV, which promises similar services as Vudu, including on-demand high-def/standard-def film rentals, for an even more attractive $229 price. Apple TV was reduced by $70 during MacWorld earlier this month. True, Apple TV is shifting its focus from sales to broadband movie rentals, seeing it as the increasingly popular way for people to enjoy digitally-delivered films.  Pricing disagreements have also led more studios to offer TV shows than movies for sale through Apple. Vudu, on the other hand, continues to push both a rental and sales model. At CES, Vudu added 70 more HD films to its selection for customers, who pay between $1-$4 to rent, and $5 to $20 to buy movies. 
But besides Apple TV, there's also the tumbling prices with Blu-ray and HD DVD players. Over the holidays consumers could find certain models BD models once tagged at about $500 down to about $300.  Between Apple TV high-def rentals and BD/HD DVD high-def collectibility, its hard to argue what niche Vudu is filling. And you can't forget Xbox 360's healthy 10 million installation base to deliver its growing Xbox Live library of digitally-delivered high-def content. Yet in Vudu's defense, choice is always great. But I see more further price drops and/or additional marketing magic in Vudu's future. 

Posted by Susanne Ault on January 24, 2008 | Comments (0)