Toshiba HD-A2 to drop below $100 at Wal*Mart

Posted on Thursday, November 1, 2007 by MegaZone

Lately I’ve made a number of posts about various retailers dropping their pricing on the Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD deck under $200, which was started by Wal*Mart pricing them at $198. Well, Wal*Mart seems to be getting even more aggressive, planning to price the HD-A2 at just $98.87 as a ‘Secret In-Store Special’ this Friday, starting at 8AM. It is just while quantities last, and I wouldn’t expect them to last long. HD DVDs are also being priced at $14.96. You know these specials are just designed to get people into the store to buy more.

Toshiba is likely desperate to dump their stocks of HD-A2s, since these units are second generation players which are now obsolete as the third generation HD-A3 is out. Since they’d have to take a write down on surplus stock anyway, why not dump them at retail dirt cheap and buy some market share for HD DVD? A fairly smart move on their part. But they’re taking a big loss on the hardware with these prices, so don’t expect players to stay this low once the back-stock has been sold through.

Picked up from DailyTech, via a tip from my co-worker Steve.

EDIT: It seems Best Buy is price-matching Wal*Mart. At least in stores that still have any HD-A2s left in stock – and when they’re sold out, that’s it.

About MegaZone

MegaZone is the Editor of Gizmo Lovers and the chief contributor. He's been online since 1989 and active in several generations of 'social media' - mailing lists, USENet groups, web forums, and since 2003, blogging.    MegaZone has a presence on several social platforms: Google+ / Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / LiveJournal / Web.    You can also follow Gizmo Lovers on other sites: Blog / Google+ / Facebook / Twitter.
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  • http://www.zatznotfunny.com Dave Zatz

    The presence of the HD-A3 doesn’t make the HD-A2 obsolete. At the end of the day, they both play HD DVDs… Though I agree, they are probably blowing through inventory to maintain a streamlined lineup. Works for me!

  • http://www.gizmolovers.com/ megazone

    I meant obsolete from a market point of view, not technologically. Retailers don’t like devoting ‘shelf space’, be it real or virtual, to ‘last year’s model’. So with the HD-A3 out, the HD-A2 has a limited lifespan left with leading retailers as a clearance item, before it is relegated to the surplus market of second-tier resellers like Big Lots, and various websites. With the HD-A3 out Toshiba can’t get top dollar for the HD-A2, and what they can get for it will decline with time, so better for them to blow them out as fast as possible before they get stuck with the stock.