HD DVD players: Get ready for price drop

HD DVD players are here for more than one year now. How this format came into the minds of targeted users is still a big question to be answered. Many feels that HD DVDs are not penetrating as expected. Experts list out different reasons. One may think that he cannot decide whether he needs an HD DVD or Blu-ray format. Other may opt for a cheap format, say DVD, to HD DVD.

It’s said. HD DVD players high priced last year. Toshiba launched their first HD DVD players at CES in January 2006. But the cheapest model HD-A1 was priced at $500. The other model HD-XA1 cost $800. Later, almost a year after, the company released their second-generation HD DVD players. But still the model HD-A2 cost $500 and HD-XA2 priced at $1000.

The fact is that the users are looking for cheaper options. They can’t choose a costly player when the future format has yet to be determined. Look how cheap standard DVD players are now. But we can hope something now. Toshiba, the biggest backer of the HD DVD format, is planning to aggressively push the new generation HD DVD players in the next month’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The company executive hinted a reduced price for the next generation models: “At first I thought the price threshold is $499. Maybe coming next is $399 and after that is $299.”

Apart from this Toshiba is offering a money saver offer for customers to receive three HD DVDs when they purchase a player until the end of February. All these may lead to a price drop, they suggest. Let’s us hope for the best.