Although Bjorn’s reported equal interest for HD DVD and Blu-ray, Crutchfield’s and Ultimate Electronics experienced a much larger price-driven demand for Toshiba HD DVD players. The North American HD DVD Promotional Group touted reaching 750,000 HD DVD units sold, which works out to a 28% jump in set-top sales from its standing prior to Black Friday.
“The Wal-Mart thing and other indicators show that people aren’t hung up on the format as much as they are about price,” said Souder. “We sold out of every [HD-A2] that we had at $129. People are willing to make that level of investment, but they didn’t seem willing to spend $399 and $499.”
Ultimate sold three times as many of Toshiba’s third-generation model, the HD-A3, than all of the Blu-ray models combined. Using its own price reductions and Toshiba’s $100-off rebate, Ultimate offered $149 HD-A3s, which regularly list for $299.
