90,000 HD DVD Players Sold Last Weekend

Last weekend’s attempt by HD DVD to advance their position in the high definition war seems to have been a success.

According to figures reported by Video Business, over 90,000 Toshiba A2 players were sold at Wal Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City and a few other retailers over the past weekend. What’s interesting about the 90,000 figure is that it doesn’t include online sales on sites like Amazon, which were conducting their own $99 sales.

How significant is the 90,000 plus number? Well, by comparison, that figure pretty much matches the total sales to date of Sony’s BDP-S300 unit, which has shipped (but not necessarily sold) 100,000 units since its release this past summer.

Overall, Blu-ray players still outnumber HD DVD players in homes if you include Playstation 3 sales in that figure.

However, the sale of 90,000 HD DVD players in one weekend (with certainly more deals to come before Christmas) translates into many more movie sales for the format. Will it be enough to tip the scales or, at least, even them out (Blu-ray still holds a 2 to 1 advantage in movie sales)? Time will tell.

HD DVD Players For Only $99!

Think HD DVD isn't serious about winning this format war? Think again.

Today, two major retailers, Wal Mart and Best Buy will start offering the Toshiba A2 HD DVD player for only $99. Other major stores will most likely be offering similar deals as "Black Friday" (the day after Thanksgiving, which launches the holiday shopping season here in the United States) draws closer.

Potential customers should note that supplies may be extremely limited (depending on your area of the country), and the $99 deal is also for a limited time.

This is a true bargain for those wishing to jump into HD DVD, since Toshiba is still offering 5 free titles for anyone who buys a new player.

An HD DVD player and 5 free movies for $99?! Beat that, Blu-ray.