Best Buy Sells $99 HD DVD Player
But supplies may be near the end.
By Swanni
However, there were reports late yesterday that the retailer had already run out of supplies. The company's web site said the $99 player was out of stock late Thursday night.
Best Buy's surprise price cut followed an announcement by Wal-Mart that it would sell the HD DVD player for $99 today as a special pre "Black Friday" sale.
Normally, stores hold their Black Friday sales on the Friday after Thanksgiving, the unofficial kickoff of the holiday shopping season.
But the discount retailer is promoting five products (including the $99 Toshiba HD DVD player.) at 'Black Friday' prices today to generate early interest from shoppers.
HD DVD is battling with the Blu-ray format for the new high-def disc audience. The lowest price Blu-ray player is now $499 (Sony's BDP-S300).
Amazon.com, Circuit City and Wal-Mart revealed late last month that they would sell the Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player for $198 during non-promotional periods.
HD DVD supporters are hopeful that the low-cost Toshiba player will give them an edge in the format war.
Sony Electronics President Stan Glasgow said yesterday that Blu-ray player prices will likely not fall under $399 this holiday season.
“(The player will be) in the $399 range...I don’t expect it to go much lower than that," Glasgow said, according to TWICE Magazine.
Comment on this article!
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
Click
TVPredictions.com to see today's Swanni
Sez.
©
TVPredictions.com
____________________________________________
Swanni (Phillip Swann) is
president and publisher of TVPredictions.com. He has been quoted in
dozens of publications and broadcast outlets, including CNN, Fox
News, Inside Edition, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The
Chicago Tribune, The Financial Times, The Associated Press and The
Hollywood Reporter. He can be reached at
swann@tvpredictions.com
or at 703-505-3064.
Click
TVPredictions.com
to read more news and features on TV
technology.