Price War Moves High Def DVD Players

Sales of high-definition DVD players have been languishing because customers were unwilling to choose one of the two competing formats—Blu-ray or HD DVD. But this holiday season may change that, with retailers dropping prices from upward of $400 to under $200, reports the Wall Street Journal. And Wal-Mart fueld the nascent  price war by offering an older model of a Toshiba player for under $98.89.

Wal-Mart's price stood for just 48 hours, but it moved 90,000 to 100,000 Toshiba players. “They've shown that people will bite if the price is low,” says one analyst. Blu-ray makers are responding with similar price cuts. Blu-ray fits 50GB onto its disks—compared to HD DVD's 30GB—making it a favorite of studios and hard-core fans, but Blu-ray’s higher cost has meant slightly slower adoption. (More Sony stories.)