K-Mart chooses HD DVD

K-Mart chooses HD DVD

K-Mart logoThe retailers are entering the format war now. A few months back Target announced Blu-ray players would be exclusively sold in their stores this holiday season and today Home Media Magazine is reporting that K-Mart is siding with HD DVD.

K-Mart is owned by Sears, who is publishing a “Black Friday” ad showing a Toshiba HD-A3 at $169. This may indict Toshiba in an effort to court Sears as a whole.

Jody Sally, spokesperson for Toshiba, said it was the lower price point that gave K-Mart the incentive to carry the format exclusively. However, the Sony Playstation 3 is also sold at K-Mart and supports Blu-ray.

I know it’s difficult for retailers to sell either format because they have to educate their salespeople on both formats. You can’t up-sell a customer to a choice between two ambiguously different formats. You confuse the customer. I’m anticipating other retailers to side one way or the other in the coming months.

It was Blockbuster that first announced they would support Blu-ray Disc exclusively in their stores. Then Target announced Blu-ray players only in their stores. Hastings later announced they would expand Blu-ray in their rentals both in store and on-line. The HTSA buying group consisting of over 60 retailers also announced exclusive support for Blu-ray. Now that K-Mart is in the ring things should get interesting.

About Steven Kippel

Steven Kippel has worked as a systems designer for a leading high-end audio/video custom integrator in Southern California since 2003. He is responsible for researching new technologies and integrating them into existing systems and new construction projects. He has designed several high-profile systems for discriminating clients on the cutting-edge of technology. When he is not hard at work, Steven is spending time with his wife, playing with his band or promoting concerts and bands in the Inland Empire. His favorite bands include The Cure, U2, Eisley, Living Sacrifice and DragonForce.

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12 Comments on “K-Mart chooses HD DVD”

  1. this means nothing even if its true. who in their right mind would buy HD equipment from kmart? i guess if your buying cheap equipment, its fitting, but seriously…why spend thousands of dollars for a nice tv and than go the cheap way with hd-dvd?

  2. Well, pretty much every TV made today is high-def and they’re getting much cheaper.

  3. so…k-mart probably does not even sell any hd-tvs. which brings me back to my original point, which is, this story has little impact to blu-ray. the author says with k-mart in the “ring” with blockbuster, target, and HTSA it will make it interesting….the author should reconsider writing on the subject in the future.

  4. Hello what, thanks for your comments, but I think Steve did a great job with this article.

    Regardless of what you think of Kmart, many people still shop there and this is certainly significant news pertaining to the Blu-ray vs HD DVD war.

  5. K-Mart most certainly does sell HDTVs. They are nowhere near the size they used to be, but they’re still one of the larger retail outlets in the States. Perhaps if you were to take a trip to your local K-Mart you can make sure you know what you’re talking about when you comment next time.

    Your own opinion about what is “interesting” must differ from mine.

  6. Even if I saw one or the other Blu-ray OR HD-DVD at the Dollar Store- I would not buy either of them. The war will not be over until one or the other decides to “go with the flow” and drop all this annoying DRM.

    I’ll be damned if I have to have a device connected to the Internet so these asswipes like Sony and Toshiba can “update” my firmware or not depending on how they feel or which way the wind blows.

    In the meantime I’ll stick with CSS! Oops! I mean DVD with an upconverting player or a decent video card in a HTPC. I wont trade consumers rights for some added pixels.

  7. Im not trying to tell you that you cant find this “interesting”, as you say. but the fact still remains, that kmart is not where the next generation of hi-def consumers will be shopping, period! so you might find it interesting that they choose hd-dvd, but it hardly makes the competing formats war interesting.

    I could try to make my “local” trip to a kmart but in the major metro area im in, i know of one kmart in a 40 mile radius.

  8. So who are the “next generation of hi-def consumers”? If the formats reach mass-adoption, anyone could be…

    Regardless of that, as Steve said, Kmart is still a large retailer in the USA. Even if you or I don’t shop there, many people still do.

  9. you are making my point, but apparently dont see it.

    you said…”if the formats reach mass adoption” which they obviously havent so, like I said, the people who will be deceiding which format will reach mass adoption arent the people shopping at k-mart (you said that as well).

    this goes back to why blu-ray will win, this isnt a contest of who can make the cheapest shit, if it was hd-dvd would win, but good thing people spending the money on this stuff want a quality product and dont buy cheap ass players from cheap ass stores.

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