MAY 29 | Toshiba’s recent price drop on its HD DVD players and aggressive retailer pricing over the holiday weekend have driven up sales as much as tenfold at some retailers.
Costco is selling Toshiba's low-end HD DVD player for $249.99. Photo by Tyler Pruitt
Since Toshiba began offering a $100 instant rebate on HD DVD players last month, sales have grown between fivefold and tenfold, depending on the retailer, said Jodi Sally, VP of marketing for Toshiba America Consumer Products.
“We’re thrilled to see that consumers are, by far, choosing Toshiba’s HD DVD players as their source for high-definition,” Sally said.
On May 20, Toshiba began offering the rebate on select HD DVD player models, effectively slashing the price on the bottom line HD-A2 model to $299.
Amazon.com cut the price even further, to as low as $238 over Memorial Day weekend. The lower price shot up the player to be the top-selling DVD player on the site, a spot previously held by the Oppo up-converting DVD player, which sells for $229.
The HD-A2 player price was back up to $299 on Tuesday on Amazon and listed as out of stock. Still it remained the top-selling DVD player and ranked No. 7 in sales in the electronics category.
An Amazon.com spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the sales. Other retailers were selling the player for $299 on Tuesday, but comments on the AVS Forum reported seeing deals over the weekend from retailer Electronics Expo, which also sells players on Amazon.com.
Costco is selling the Toshiba HD-D2 (same as the HD-A2) for $249 with a free HDMI cable.
Some other retailers also are offering free add-ons to promote the players. Value Electronics is selling the HD-A2 for $299 with a free HDMI cable and seven free HD DVD movies. HDMI cables cost around $100.© 2007, Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved.