Blu Ray not doing well?

[fmw]

I was at the local Target store the other day. Among the 50 feet or so of DVD's on display not a single Blu ray was to be seen. I found them tucked away on another display near the floor. There were only about 15 titles. I ended up buying a couple of DVD's. Neither title was available on Blu Ray. I can't help but wonder if winning the format war might have done Blu Ray in.

 

[gus6464]

I was at the local Target store the other day. Among the 50 feet or so of DVD's on display not a single Blu ray was to be seen. I found them tucked away on another display near the floor. There were only about 15 titles. I ended up buying a couple of DVD's. Neither title was available on Blu Ray. I can't help but wonder if winning the format war might have done Blu Ray in.

You can't really use Target as a point of reference for BD sales. Their BD selection is quite poor compared to stores like BB, CC, and even walmart. Plus they rarely have sales unlike the other stores I mentioned.

 

[fmw]

No kidding. I thought I was pretty clear in saying that their selection was poor. If it were selling well, wouldn't it be bigger?

 

[gus6464]

No kidding. I thought I was pretty clear in saying that their selection was poor. If it were selling well, wouldn't it be bigger?

Target is weird about the products they decide to fully endorse. Sometimes they will jump into the "new" thing head on while other times just hang back for a long time. It was the same thing with the ipod. It took a very long time before they had them in full force at their stores when other stores had been selling them for a while. Walmart and Target are always the last stores to fully endorse electronic products although Walmart has really jumped in with BD. The BD selection at my local walmart has tripled within the last couple of months.

 

[no. 5]

It's about the same at my local Target, though the Blu-ray disc's are displayed more prominently. But I find it amusing that they don't sell Blu-ray players (but they do have a nonworking demo player) and the nearest place to buy one is 60+ miles away.

 

[Audioholics]

How are they at Wal-Mart? That store would be an excellent sales indicator.

 

[Seth=L]

How are they at Wal-Mart? That store would be an excellent sales indicator.

Many Wal-Mart stores now have a dedicated Blu-ray section (4 or 5 base stacks). The Wal-Mart I was working at, I recently quit, had a "new release" Blu-ray section along with regular titles. They also sold 4 Blu-ray players (Magnavox [Funai rebadge], Samsung, Panasonic, and a Sony) as well as the PS3. Wal-Mart and Sony have a little deal worked out I believe.

Target isn't always the most up to date, as others have mentioned, as well as K-Mart. K-Mart is even worse in most areas. I remember my nearest Target was selling Harman Kardon receivers, Orb Audio and Kef speakers. That was really weird, but it didn't last long.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I was at the local Target store the other day. Among the 50 feet or so of DVD's on display not a single Blu ray was to be seen. I found them tucked away on another display near the floor. There were only about 15 titles. I ended up buying a couple of DVD's. Neither title was available on Blu Ray. I can't help but wonder if winning the format war might have done Blu Ray in.

With anecdotal evidence it's almost impossible to say what conclusions could have any real world merit when visiting a single store. I know that BB/CC stores near me tend to have several end caps with BD displays of players and a fairly decent selection of titles. But, we are also buying titles at a time when the Internet offers some regular deals which can blow away many retail stores.

So, I would say the real indicator of sales is the actual number of sales and whether or not studios are making target numbers for the sales they are trying to make on Blu-ray.

Since the last I heard, the goal was about 400% growth in 2008 vs. 2007 it seems that BD has been on track to beat that number. Maybe they won't, maybe they'll just reach the target number... maybe even come a bit short. But, sure as heck, DVD is still firmly rooted in the American home and real Blu-ray pentration isn't going to be more than a blip towards reality this year even with significant growth. It likely won't be for 1-2 more years until stores start showing serious signs of BD adoption would be my guess. Somewhere in there we may see BD taking 20 percent or more of the disc based sales.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

How are they at Wal-Mart? That store would be an excellent sales indicator.

They are doing much better at Wal-Mart. I noticed most of the Wal-Marts around my house has at least DOUBLED the BD inventories if not Trippled as before. And a lot of the newer titles are being sold out pretty quickly.

And of course, Best Buy's BD selection is pretty extensive.

 

[gus6464]

They are doing much better at Wal-Mart. I noticed most of the Wal-Marts around my house has at least DOUBLED the BD inventories if not Trippled as before. And a lot of the newer titles are being sold out pretty quickly.

And of course, Best Buy's BD selection is pretty extensive.

My walmart is the same as well. They got rid of a whole DVD aisle and put BDs in place. The closest BB to my house also has a pretty huge BD selection compared to last christmas. Last time I heard BD adoption has been greater than DVD adoption when comparing the age of the two at their given times. Plus the whole DTV switchover is helping them a lot since everyone is replacing their old TVs with HDTVs.

 

[sptrout]

I checked our local Super Target Sunday for their stock of Blu-rays and they have more than doubled (more like tripled) what they had a couple weeks ago. They had a large row/display, plus a Blu-ray display at the end of the row. I did not think to check to see if they sold players since I have one.

 

[croseiv]

Yeah, I have been seeing them multiply.

 

[tgilb2007]

IMO, the only thing that is really holding back Blu_Ray at this point is the price tag. $300 for a player, and movies running around $30-40 each, its still VERY expensive for most home users to be able to get into.

The people who could afford the players now already have them, and also, more companies are starting to manufactor the players as well. Its only a matter of time until we see the no-name companies making their own, as they did with DVD, VHS, etc..

The only other thing that really hindered the growth at its time was HD-DVD, but since that is also now defunct, Blu_ray just needs a lower price point, and I think it will start to boom again.

 

[j_garcia]

When I go to the Target by my house, the Blu-ray section is almost always picked clean even at their generally higher prices. When I go to the one a few miles away, I can almost always find the titles I want (when they have a sale), so it depends on where you go.

The movies are NOT $30-$40, that is ridiculous unless you don't know how to shop. Just in the last month I have not paid over $15 for a BD title, and I bought about 8 titles, all new releases.