Culver City (CA) - Following in the footsteps of video rental chain Blockbuster, Target has decided to only stock Blu-ray Disc players, passing on rival format HD DVD.
 
Sony issued a statement today confirming that standalone high definition disc players at retail Target locations will be Blu-ray players exclusively, at least until the end of the year.

Target will begin selling Sony's least expensive player, the BDP-S300, by the end of October.  The unit is priced at around $500.  Target has also been selling the Playstation 3 since its debut last November.

However, Target also sells the HD DVD player add-on for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console, which was given a new MSRP of $179 today.  It previously sold for around $200.  And in fact, the retailer's online store is currently stocked with multiple HD DVD players but no standalone Blu-ray devices.

It's a bit of a one-two punch for HD DVD after a similar announcement from Blockbuster last month.  In its first move to nationwide high definition rentals, Blockbuster decided to only stock Blu-ray titles, though some test stores and its online rental service offer HD DVD.

As expected, the HD DVD camp has already fired back and issued a statement about this development.  "Target will continue to carry the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive as well as HD DVD titles so we don’t see much of a change in their plans to carry both formats. In fact, they continue to sell Toshiba HD DVD players on their web site.  Sony appears to have bought an end cap, just as HD DVD has in retail stores such as BestBuy and Circuit City," said Ken Graffeo, vice president of Universal Studios' HD marketing team.  Universal has pledged exclusive support to the HD DVD format.

Target has historically called the mark on dying formats, usually being one of the first major retailer to put a halt on products that fizzle out soon afterwards.  It stopped selling Nokia's multimedia N-Gage phone just months before it officially died, and got rid of UMD movies for Sony's Playstation Portable system.  Not long after that decision, third-party movie studios stopped supporting the format.

so...they should stop selling bluray players!

Jul 26, 2007 15:03     

For now i don't see any format loosing, if i need to buy a player now i would go to Hd dvd in the shor term, and blu ray in the long term.
Eduardo report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Coffin is closing....

Jul 26, 2007 15:50     

That's a bad blow to HD DVD. Target does however carry the 360 HD DVD drive.
none report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Has son;y ever won a standards war?

Jul 26, 2007 15:56     

MemoryStick, UMD, Betamax, MiniDisk, DAT audo-tapes... My opinion of who will win is heavily colored by my perception that Sony has done this on numberous occasions and lost every single time. Is there any time Sony engaged in a format war and won?
Jerry report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

HD DVD is on its way out..

Jul 26, 2007 16:09     

To the guy above that thinks no one will lose, go sell your player to some sap now before its worthless. Sony will win this one, guaranteed. Blu Ray is the better technology.
Bubba Smith report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Sony did make some winning standards in the past.

Jul 26, 2007 16:29     

>Is there any time Sony engaged in a format war and won? > I don't know Sony engaged in a war, but CD (Compact disk) was designed by Philips and Sony, and Compact Cassette tape was designed by Philips and Sony pushed hard to make it a standard format.
Ryo report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

The Floodgates have opened

Jul 26, 2007 16:38     

Beginning with Wal-Mart shooting down the $200 HD DVD player as rumor, and then turning around and announcing that Sony HDTVs on their show floors would be displaying Blu-ray movies and other content. Blockbuster announced they will not be expanding their library of HD DVDs due to lack of support, and focus on Blu-ray for the time being. Now this latest announcement by Target tell a tale about the fate of HD DVD.

Matt report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

re: Jerry

Jul 26, 2007 16:38     

Well it's about time they did, so who knows. And memory stick is far from dead but it's mostly only used by Sony and Samsung if i remember correctly. Anyway, i kinda hope the blu-ray wins just because it has a higher data capacity.
tibi report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Getting closer

Jul 26, 2007 16:39     

We are getting closer to a winner but sadly it's still long from over. Wait til after this holiday season. If HD DVD can't make in roads this holiday season then it's over but if people can buy players for 150-200 then it might swing back to HD DVD. It's still to hard to tell what Joe consumer is going to do.
James report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Good move Target

Jul 26, 2007 16:52     

Sony has a lot of problems when it comes to licensing for their players/formats. This time around, though, Blu-Ray is the way to go. HD cannot come close to the capacity or data transfer rates of a Blu-Ray disk. I don't expect HD to be the media format for the next decade, but I won't buy until I absolutely must, DVD's work just fine for now (especially since I don't have a hi-def TV) and they're going to be around for a while. Targets probably keeping the Xbox HD Player because they see it more of an accessory than a player. Target's probably keeping the XBox HD Player because they see it more of an accessory than a player.

Larry report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

I Don't Think it Matters That Much

Jul 26, 2007 16:53     

No offense, but I don't see this as a big blow to HDDVD...nowhere near what the Blockbuster one was. I don't know that many people that go to Target to buy their high end electronics. Someone may have statistics on this, but the vast majority of Blue Ray and HD-DVD players out now won't be purchased at stores like Target or WalMart. People who want cheap brand stuff or their $40 DVD player may go there.

Mike M report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

formats sony has won...

Jul 26, 2007 17:09     

as mentioned by Ryo sony made the CD, and compact cassette tape formats with philips. Although DAT tapes missed out on the consumer market, its still used alot in the audio industry (though it is being ever more replaced because it is just old). So sure sony has lost more than they have won, and usuially lost when they had the better technology, but I still think that bluray is in the running because of the space available as a format. More space available means it will be able to last longer before being outdated, which means studios wont have to replace dubbing devices any time soon. But with all that said, I still think that this will be the last format war as everything becomes more and more connected to the internet and video streaming becomes a reality for more people.

Caeden report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Anyone else see?

Jul 26, 2007 17:14     

Money changing hands here? Target is a low cost store. So really, for them to drop HD-DVD, which has far cheaper players than Blu-ray, the only thing that makes sense to me is that some money changed hands between Sony and Target. That'd be like a bar dropping beer in place of high priced wine. The majority of people who shop at Target can't afford a $500-100 Blu-ray player. But a $200 HD-DVD player, yes.

David report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Take out the bugle. . .

Jul 26, 2007 17:42     

. . . and start playing taps. It's pretty much all over. All theses little stories are adding up to a big picture. Retailers as well as movie companies don't want a format war so they're making a choice to embrace one format. They know Sony has the marketing power to succeed and have presented the best technology for the future. Everyone should start buying BluRay so the format succeeds quicker. Only a fool would buy HD-DVD now.

JD report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

I make no pretense about being impartial. I don't f...

Jul 26, 2007 20:15     

I make no pretense about being impartial. I don't fall into the 'fanboy' camp of either format, but from a consumer-oriented perspective, BR is a series of kicks to the nuts. Every 'feature' they've touted has been to the benefit of the retailers or the producers, wooing the decision makers with little to no regard for the consumers that are expected to pay for it. If industry heads are someday extracted from their collective buttocks, and I have the same freedom with my purchased, network-delivered content that I do with my purchased discs, I'll happily eschew physical media for downloaded content and commit this format war to the pages of history.

GrendelPrime report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Re: Ryo

Jul 26, 2007 21:27     

I would like possibly correct another poster: Sony has never won a proprietary format war. Their goal is to make a peice of every unit of a particular media type sold, something that did not apply to the CD or the compact cassette tape. History tells us that corporations tend to more readily accept a proposed standard if they don't have to pay royalties to produce it, or license patents. They are too greedy, always have been. I hope they fall on their faces. I giggle every time I hear the acronym PS3.

Scott report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Same codec used, just different size really

Jul 27, 2007 02:35     

from wikipedia "Both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc have adopted VC-1 as a mandatory video standard, meaning their video playback devices will be capable of decoding and playing video-content compressed using VC-1. Windows Vista partially supports HD DVD playback by including the VC-1 decoder and some related components needed for playback of VC-1 encoded HD DVD movies." also from wiki-HD DVD has a single-layer capacity of 15 GB and a dual-layer capacity of 30 GB; the HD DVD-RAM has a single-layer capacity of 20 GB and a dual-layer capacity of Undecided.[4] Like the original DVD format, the data layer of an HD DVD disc is 0.6 mm below the surface physically protecting the data layer from damage. The numerical aperture of the optical pick-up head is 0.65, compared with 0.6 for DVD. All HD DVD players are backward compatible with DVD and CD and again The name Blu-ray Disc is derived from the blue-violet laser used to read and write this type of disc. Because of its shorter wavelength (405 nm), substantially more data can be stored on a Blu-ray Disc than on the DVD format, which uses a red, 650 nm laser. A single layer Blu-ray Disc can store 25 gigabytes (GB), over five times the size of a single layer DVD at 4.7 GB. A dual layer Blu-ray Disc can store 50 GB, almost 6 times the size of a dual layer DVD at 8.5 GB.

Brian report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Physical formats

Jul 27, 2007 06:51     

Physical formats still do have place - for A LONG time. Downloading may be convenient but you still need some storage. I really cannot imagine you would really like to pay for HD video every time you want to watch or to donwload it. Downloading 50 gig? Oh my. I do have 10 mbit line and downloading files that big would be annoyance, definitely. Most of cheap players do have storage like 80-160 GB. You cannot reasonably to back it up anywhere unless you do have permanent storage media of similar capacity. DVD with max 9 GB is small these days even for recorded TV. BR has advantage of bigger storage so I do prefer it.

Dagobar report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Interesting

Jul 27, 2007 07:04     

Mike M I hate to correct you but if you look at the statistics on sales Wal-Mart sells more electronics than anyone else in the World. The last time I checked I believe it was double the market share of the nearest competitor. Does that make Target not selling HD-DVD players a major win for Sony? Probably not. I hate to point this out but those of us who tend to stay on the bleeding edge of Tech are not the ones these companies are selling to. We make up a very small percentage of the population. They will happily ignore us in favor of the teaming masses that will rely on consumer reports or their "good friend" at the local Wal-mart for information. After all Would you rather sell one thing with $100 profit or 20 with a $10 profit?

Chris report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Around and around

Jul 27, 2007 07:18     

we go. It really wont matter who wins in the long term. Everything will be on flash memory and downloadable.
T report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

To Bubba

Jul 27, 2007 08:19     

Since when does being the better technology mean you win the war?
Drakkar report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

its strange

Jul 27, 2007 08:50     

Well an anouncement that they will carry Blu-ray exclusively "at least till the end of the year" is somewhat suspect to me. First they will sell the x-box add on and still sell HD movies. My guess is this is an example of Sony offering some sweeting to target till the end of the year for exclusivity on players. I'll bet when the combo players come out Target will carry them (which would be the smarter buy for any consumer).

T report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Is HD-DVD capable of more than 2 layers?

Jul 27, 2007 09:37     

If not, then Blu-ray may be the way to go in the long run. Blu-ray is capable of up to 10 layers @ 25 GB a piece...
Killer B report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

HD-DVD had more than 2 layers first.....

Jul 29, 2007 00:37     

HD-DVD (Toshiba) announced a 4 layer disc first, then Sony's marketing team spent a TON of money saything they could do it too. That ad money has to be paid for somehow, right? You got it, Blu-Ray is expensive for a REASON! Target got some payola too, that's why they are Blu-Ray exclusive. If HD-DVD dies, then Blu-Ray will STAY EXPENSIVE! Sony is a lie, and their products are not nearly as good as they PAY TO GET YOU TO THINK THEY ARE!!!

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