Best Buy Backs Blu-ray
February 12, 2008 | by Geoff Duncan
In a one-two punch for HD DVD, first Netflix says it's phasing out HD DVD, now electronics retailer Best Buy says it will recommend and showcase Blu-ray products over HD DVD.
The week is barely started, and already it's proving to be a bad one for the HD DVD high-definition video camp. First leading mail-order video rental firm Netflix announces it will no longer be adding HD DVD titles to its collection, letting HD DVD titles stay available until end-of-life but only adding new Blu-ray discs. Now, leading consumer electronics retailer Best Buy says it will showcase and recommend Blu-ray products beginning in March, although it will still carry some HD DVD products for consumers who really want them.
"Consumers have told us that they want us to help lead the way. We've listened to our customers, and we are responding," said Best Buy President and COO Brian Dunn, in a statement. "Our decision to shine a spotlight on Blu-ray Disc players and other Blu-ray products is a strong signal to our customers that we believe Blu-ray is the right format choice for them."
Best Buy's promotion and recommendation of Blu-ray will go into effect this March.
The HD DVD Promotional Group issued a statement via email which essentially noted that Best Buy will continue to offer HD DVD products, unlike Netflix which plans to phase them out entirely. "[I]t's unfortunate to see Netflix make the decision to only stock Blu-ray titles going forward. While the Best Buy announcement says they will recommend Blu-ray, at least they will continue to carry HD DVD and offer consumers a choice at retail."
Post Your Comment...Comments
Kerbe on Feb 12th, 2008 at 11:42 AM:
I was all for HD/DVD at first but did some research on both formats. I liked how much more future proof Bluray is in comparison to HD/DVD. The competition between both camps has served its purpose to drive companies to better products and lower prices but now I think its time for uniformity. No one wants to have to chose one format over another when it comes to movies. I dont see a repeat in history like Betamax vs VHS because both the consumer and the movie studios are choosing the superior product. I think it was smart of Microsoft to not commit to HD/DVD in the X360 and offer it as an add on and not a standard feature. It took lots of guts from Sony to do the opposite for the PS3 and Bluray but its paying off in the end. Lets hurry up and end this battle so I can finally buy Transformers in Bluray.
andyx on Feb 12th, 2008 at 1:05 PM:
There was a time when Rob Enderle was proclaiming that HD-DVD is the WINNER! How the Mighty has fallen, I said at the time that Blu-Ray has the advantage having better studios supporting it. But Rob and HD-DVD fanboy Jeff even argued that content libraries does not matter and that stand-alone sales matter most. WRONG!!!
Can I say it Loud, I TOLD YOU SO!!! Jeff, Eat your words! HA HA HA
Comment on this article
Please keep your comments relevant to this article. Email addresses are not displayed, they are only required to verify you are human.
When you submit your comment, an email will be sent to your email address with a confirmation link. Once you have clicked on that confirmation link your comment will be posted.
HTML is not allowed.
RSS Feed
RX8 on Feb 12th, 2008 at 9:21 AM:
No suprise here, it's really sad to see HD DVD die like this. Is there anywhere left where you can still buy HD DVD movies? Maybe Amazon right?