by Playfuls Staff |
21st April 2007
Marking the first anniversary of HD DVD hardware and movies
sold to consumers, the North American HD DVD Promotional Group announced that
sales of dedicated HD DVD consumer electronics players reached [more] more than
100K units sold in the
United
States, ahead of any other high definition format.
This figure does not include sales of HD DVD PC drives or the Xbox 360 HD DVD
player, which are also selling strongly.
As consumers see lower prices for high definition players,
the manufacturing efficiencies of HD DVD are keeping the format one step ahead.
As the first to bring CE player prices down below the $400 mark, Toshiba is
hearing encouraging news from retailers.
"Toshiba remains committed to drive sales with
strategic pricing and marketing to complement the rapid market adoption of
HDTVs," said Jodi Sally, vice president of marketing, Toshiba America
Consumer Products. "Retailers are showing a significant increase in sales
volume this month so far. On Amazon.com, our HD DVD players continue to rank
among the top ten best sellers of all DVD players, which says a lot about how
consumers relate to price."
Quality, price and great viewing and listening experiences
are recognized benefits of the HD DVD format. With mandatory features such as a
network connection, picture-in-picture, persistent storage, and decode support
for Dolby True HD, every player can take advantage of new interactive and audio
features as they are introduced. That means a quantum leap for the consumer
experience with minimal investment in new audio equipment and the ability to
update any player on the market as needed. Consumers can also enjoy combo discs
that include a DVD version as well as an HD version on a single disc for
playback on a variety of machines. These are all exclusive features of the HD
DVD format.
With titles like The Complete Matrix Trilogy coming in May
from Warner Home Video, and more than 70 new titles expected to be released
before the end of July, HD DVD owners will have more than 300 titles worldwide
to choose from this summer, with more to come in the fall and holiday seasons.
The North American HD DVD Promotional Group includes companies
like Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video, Paramount Home
Entertainment, HP, Intel, Microsoft and Toshiba.
