NPD surveys done last fall and in March show that consumers prefer Best Buy when shopping Blu-ray. The same survey also shows that Amazon.com and Wal-Mart are attracting more Blu-ray customers.
NPD senior industry analyst Russ Crupnick said, “While Best Buy is still the leader, the percent of people who are saying that Amazon.com and Wal-Mart [is their favorite Blu-ray retailer] is growing at a much faster pace than average.” This increase coincides with strengthened merchandising and the increasing number of Blu-ray deals that both Amazon and Wal-Mart have offered customers.
Blockbuster rose to No. 5 in the ranking in NPD’s latest survey, following Target at No. 4. Circuit City placed No. 4 in NPD’s fall report, with Target at No. 5.
[VideoBusiness]
Tags: Amazon, Best Buy, Blu-ray News, Wal-Mart, Walmart
As we previously reported here Wal-mart is now offering a free $100 gift card with the purchase of any Blu-ray player including the PS3. The best deal is the Magnavox Blu-ray player which costs $298 and will essentially lower it to $198 with this deal. This offer is good from June 8th through June 13th, right in time for Father’s Day. The gift card is good for both in-store and online purchases. If you decide to spend it on Blu-ray movies, Wal-mart has also got you covered with titles such as 3:10 to Yuma, Shooter, and 300 on sale for $15 each.
[Wal-mart]
Tags: Blu-ray Deals, Blu-ray Movies, Blu-ray News, Blu-ray Players, PS3, Wal-Mart, Walmart
It looks like Wal-Mart is aggressively promoting Blu-ray by adding new dedicated sections for movies and players in its more than 1,200 locations. They are pushing the sales of Blu-ray players by offering a $100 store gift card with the purchase of any Blu-ray player in the month of June. We had previously reported this sale which only applied to the PS3 but is now expanded to all players.
The new Blu-ray section will be called the “Hi-Def Blu-ray Experience Area” where shoppers will find a wide selection of Blu-ray movies as well as Blu-ray players from manufacturers Magnavox, Samsung and Panasonic. These three brands are new to Wal-mart as they only carried Sony Blu-ray players previously.
Highlighting it’s new support for Blu, Wal-mart will give customers a $100 gift card good on any store merchandise for customers who purchase any Blu-ray player between June 8 through June 14. This will be a good deal considering the $298 Magnavox Blu-ray player Wal-mart already carries. You can essentially get a $198 Blu-ray player with $100 worth of movies. The $200 price tag is one that will be especially tempting for customers.
Gary Severson, senior VP of home entertainment at Wal-Mart said, We are excited to be a destination for families looking to create a high quality, affordable home entertainment experience with our new, wider selection of high-def TVs, Blu-ray players and movies.”
It’s good to see retailer giant Wal-Mart dedicated to promoting Blu-ray as it should do a lot to help sales of movies and players. This might even increase the good sales figures
we’ve seen so far this year.
[Video Business]
Tags: Blu-ray Deals, Blu-ray Movies, Blu-ray News, Blu-ray Players, PS3, Wal-Mart, Walmart
As always we bring you this week’s ad prices for Blu-ray movies and players from major retailers.
The best deal of the week is Wal-Mart’s free $100 gift card when you purchase a PS3 which we mentioned would appear in this week’s ad a couple days ago. This is in-store so you can walk in and get the free gift card that’s good on any kind of Wal-Mart merchandise. Circuit City has a Buy 2, get 1 free deal on a selection of 13 Blu-ray movies including Live Free of Die Hard, The Last Samurai, and Predator (See entire list after the jump). Circuit City has the LG BH200 Blu-ray/HD-DVD combo player for $499, marked off $300 from the original price. Keep in mind that it is only a Profile 1.0 player so it does not support BD-Live.
See all of this week’s prices after the jump
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Tags: Best Buy, Blu-ray Deals, Circuit City, Target, Wal-Mart, Walmart
Looks like Wal-Mart is giving people good reason to take the dive into the Blu by offering a free $100 giftcard with the purchase of a 40GB PS3 system. The gift card can be used to purchase anything which means you can add a few Blu-ray movies or games if you’d like. The deal is currently available online for purchase with a $10 shipping cost or you can opt for in-store pickup to avoid shipping costs. The deal will be available in-store at all Wal-Mart locations from June 1st through the 7th if you prefer to just walk in and pick this up.
Looks like this is a great deal if you want a Profile 2.0 Blu-ray player or next-gen gaming system. Either way it’s $100 for you to spend on whatever you’d like.
[Walmart]
Tags: Blu-ray Deals, Blu-ray Players, Playstation 3, PS3, Wal-Mart, Walmart
I stopped by the Los Angeles Wal-Mart last night to see if I could find the Funai NB500 Blu-ray player that was spotted in stores yesterday. I didn’t find any but did stumble across the Samsung BD-P1500 $348.88 sticker price. Samsung previously announced it would be available in June after delays to add BD Live. The Samsung BD-P1500 comes with BD Profile 1.1 Bonus View and Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TruHD and DTS-HD High resolution. At $348.88 it looks like it’s worth the $50 upgrade over the Funai NB500. It’s also been spotted at a San Diego store so it shouldn’t be long until its available at every location.
UPDATE: May 14 Went to Best Buy in West Los Angeles and saw one on display (pictured above) so I asked the manager if there were any in stock. He checked the computer and said the district warehouse had 701 on hand. They get deliveries on Tuesdays and Fridays and even told me I’d be able to pick one up for $399 Friday or Saturday if I paid for it today.
Tags: BD-P1500, Best Buy, Blu-ray News, Blu-ray Players, Samsung, Samsung BD1500, Wal-Mart, Walmart
Manufacturer Funai, the company associated with brands Sylvania, Emerson, and Magnavox announced back in January that it had begun production on its Funai NB500 series Blu-ray player with an intention to bring it to the North American Market during Q2. Well Funai, made good on its promise as the Magnavox or Sylvania branded NB500 Blu-ray player is now being carried at Wal-Mart locations with the price tag of $298. This price won’t give you the latest features but it will give you Profile 1.1 BD which makes for a decent deal.
[EngadgetHD]
Tags: Blu-ray Deals, Blu-ray News, Funai, Funai NB500, Magnavox, NB500, Sylvania, Wal, Wal-Mart, Walmart
