AfterDawn: News

Woolworths officially drops HD DVD

Woolworths has announced that beginning in March it will no longer sell HD DVD movies in its stores and will instead be Blu-ray exclusive.

The company cited Christmas sales as a main reason for the drop, stating that Blu-ray outsold HD-DVD by 10 to 1 over the period. The company also called the Sony PlayStation 3 the major factor for Blu-ray's emerging market dominance.

"Sales figures clearly show that the market is moving towards one format of high definition DVD," commented DVD buyer for Woolworths Steven McGunigel.



"The main reason is the success of Sony's PlayStation 3 machine. Because it plays Blu-ray discs, there are over three quarters of a million homes in the UK that can view the new high definition format."

"There is no where near that number of HD-DVD players around," added McGunigel.

The retailer did add however that HD DVD movies would still be available through its website.

Blu-ray players
Sony PlayStation 3 60GB Sony BDP-S500 Panasonic DMP-BD30K
View all Blu-ray players here

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 28 Jan 2008 22:32

• Previous article

• Qtrax misses launch time - do they actually have a product yet?

• Next article

• Qtrax client finally available for download - but don't expect any music

• 36 comments

• spydah

  Wow i didnt even know Woolworths still existed. Once a few major companies have complete dropped HD-DVD we will see the coffin cranked in to the hole.

  28.1.2008 22:41 #1

• NexGen76

  Quote:"There is no where near that number of HD-DVD players around," added McGunigel.We are starting to see a trend here & these company's are going to follow suit no matter how much HD-DVD fan can dream that there format has alot of life left with only two major studio's.But what bothers me is when HD-DVD make asinine comment like this:
  
  
  
  Originally posted by HD-DVD: Just as importantly for movie retailers, HD DVD has always enjoyed greater software sales per player than any other HD format. In fact, HD DVD owners have already bought around 3.5 movies each, compared to less than one movie sold per Blu-ray device."
  
  "While we're disappointed by Woolworths' decision, it is extremely early to spot which format will eventually win. As the figures I mention show
  
  Really how long can they keep up with this BS its not good for the consumer when they are trying to cloud the real picture with lies & number games.But mean while Microsoft have been in talks behind there backs with Blu-Ray(BDA).
  
  
  MS has been talking to Blu-ray all along
  
  http://www.n4g.com/industrynews/News-104769.aspx
  
  Like i have said on this site countless time Microsoft has never committed to anything as a company to see this isn't a shocking at all.

  28.1.2008 23:22 #2

• chubbyInc

  Woolsworth must be British, never heard of it.
  
  I didn't know people actually bought them expensive Blu-ray player over the cheaper user-friendly HD-DVD players.
  
  I'll probably never buy a PS3, xbox 360 looks a lot better.
  
  I'd rather get movies online than ever consider getting a Blu-ray player.
  
  h**p://www.petitiononline.com/SAVEHDD/petition.html

  28.1.2008 23:37 #3

• phantasee

  Woolworth's used to be over here in Canada, but they went out of business years ago (or just pulled out of the market, same thing, really).

  29.1.2008 00:01 #4

• rihgt682

  Let's all pay $400 for blu-ray player against $100 HD-dvd player for same quality because WB went with Blu-ray. YAY we're so smart!

  29.1.2008 01:11 #5

• cousinkix

  WoolWorth's used to be called the "Five and Dime" store when I was young. Cheap toys, gold fish and 39 cent records were their main fares. They also had old fashioned lunch counters and soda fountains in the stores. This American company went out of business a long time ago...

  29.1.2008 01:19 #6

• dRD

  Originally posted by spydah: Wow i didnt even know Woolworths still existed.To confuse the heck out of people, there are four Woolworths, one in the U.S. (that AFAIK, is out of business), one in Germany, one in Aus/NZ and one in the UK. This refers to the UK one, a high street retail store chain, with more than $5bn annual revenues.

  29.1.2008 02:15 #7

• rosedog

  My grandmother used to work there. I think they packed up shop some time in the late, late 80's or early 90's

  29.1.2008 02:18 #8

• Ryu77

  Ok, just to clarify a point. I am not sure about the UK but here in Australia Woolworths are one of the MAJOR supermarket chains probably in the same league as your Wal-Mart. They also have a chain called Big-W which is like a department store.
  
  Originally posted by rihgt682: Let's all pay $400 for blu-ray player against $100 HD-dvd player for same quality because WB went with Blu-ray. YAY we're so smart!It's called supply and demand. If you have any business sense then you will understand what I am saying. It is quite often consumer demand vs. the companies ability to supply the product which determines the price...
  
  Are HD-DVD players in big demand right now? The answer is NO!
  
  Do the stores have a heap of HD-DVD players that they want to offload? Hell yes!
  
  When in the early stages of the format war, the players were fairly equally priced. As the market started to gravitate towards blu-ray so did HD-DVD's price drop.

  29.1.2008 02:23 #9

• eiamhere

  I don't think Sony has ever won a media format war (Betamax, Minidisc, A-trac). Unfotunately they seem to have bullshit there way to almost victory this time.
  
  I will probably end up getting a PS3, if they sort it out before GTA4 is released. I can't bare the thought of a future media/entertainment industry with Sony at the helm.
  
  I understand that all companies ultimately aim to make a profit at all costs, but Sony, rootkits will be nothing in comparison.
  
  They will now have so much money and power now, the will change laws (more laws).

  29.1.2008 04:12 #10

• dsgtrain

  Quote:Ok, just to clarify a point. I am not sure about the UK but here in Australia Woolworths are one of the MAJOR supermarket chains probably in the same league as your Wal-Mart. They also have a chain called Big-W which is like a department store.
  Yes. It's similar here except Woolworths are not one of the major supermarket chains. They are more of a small high street store, but theres lots of them dotted around the place. Big-W also exists but not very common at all.
  
  I have yet to see HDDVD players readily avaliable (you can get them though), unlike Blu-ray which is all over the place (the PS3).
  
  Dave!

  29.1.2008 04:30 #11

• Ryu77

  Originally posted by eiamhere: Unfotunately they seem to have bullshit there way to almost victory this time.How have they bullshit their way to a victory? Of course marketing and a solid business strategy are needed but without the product to back it up... Well, then it's nowhere! It's all business my friend and ultimately it's the consumers who decide if a product succeeds or fails.
  

  
  
  "If you think you can or you think you can't, either way... You're right!"

  29.1.2008 04:36 #12

• domie

  I was surprised to see this announcement as I have a good old "Woolies" in my local UK High Street but haen't seen a single High Definition Disc for sale in it ( neither blu ray nor HD-DVD ) and I don't exactly live in the UK equivalent of Montana !
  
  The only Retail Store I have seen selling blu ray and HD-DVD other than the small independent game retailers, is HMV and as they have theirs marked at the ridiculous price of around £28 ( $ 56 ) a disc, I have not bothered to darken their doors.
  
  I think all of my discs have come from online shopping which is about 40% cheaper than the store prices as far as UK blu ray discs prices are concerned.

  29.1.2008 06:18 #13

• banned4Lf

  Woolworth's used to be an American Icon back in the early to mid 80's. They folded............hardcore. Not sure if it would be the same one that all the blokes have in Australia.
  
  Anyway........it's decisions like this that folded that crappy company. Going with ONLY blu-ray is the stupidest business decision and hence why people like myself should be making the decisions for most others out there.
  
  In their defense...........at least they kept it available through the internet.

  29.1.2008 10:46 #14

• domie

  Originally posted by banned4Lf: Going with ONLY blu-ray is the stupidest business decision and hence why people like myself should be making the decisions for most others out there.
  I don't understand how you can say that when Woolworth's own sales statistics reveal that for them at least, blu ray outsold HD-DVD by more than 10:1

  29.1.2008 10:55 #15

• glasssd

  They are one of the largest sellers of HD in EU. HD-DVD owners will still be able to get hd-dvd movies from amazon in the future, BUT shopers will see that only Blu is available in the stores. That will be Blu's largest benefet. I dont care if HD-DVD owners are still able to get Para and Uni movies in the future, I just dont want to see anyone else get suckered into buying into HD-DVD. It is OVER.

  29.1.2008 11:11 #16

• red2tango

  Originally posted by chubbyInc: Woolsworth must be British, never heard of it.
  
  I didn't know people actually bought them expensive Blu-ray player over the cheaper user-friendly HD-DVD players.
  
  I'll probably never buy a PS3, xbox 360 looks a lot better.
  
  I'd rather get movies online than ever consider getting a Blu-ray player.
  
  h**p://www.petitiononline.com/SAVEHDD/petition.htmllmao you hd-dvd owners are so lame.you need a petition to save your sorry ass? lmao please your pathetic.you people have to admit that your 99 dollar players were clearance items and that xbox 3shitty wont help hddvd.i will never buy an hd-dvd addon for my 360 because its a dead format.

  29.1.2008 11:17 #17

• emugamer

  Originally posted by rosedog: My grandmother used to work there. I think they packed up shop some time in the late, late 80's or early 90'sYeah those were the good old days. They were all over the place in Queens, NY, where I grew up. It was a sad day when they folded. I spent many hours there looking for toys and gadgets while my Mom shopped for housewares.
  
  /me gets all teary-eyed seeing the 10yrd old me looking for Star Wars action figures

  29.1.2008 12:27 #18

• m3_chris

  Originally posted by rihgt682: Let's all pay $400 for blu-ray player against $100 HD-dvd player for same quality because WB went with Blu-ray. YAY we're so smart!Sounds good to me!! People keep buying $400 Blu-ray players over the $100 Hd-dvd option because week after week of news like this. Read all the headlines from the last 8 weeks... Most people looking into a HD player are not going to go hd-dvd with all the positive headlines for blu-ray.

  29.1.2008 13:04 #19

• banned4Lf

  Quote:Originally posted by chubbyInc: Woolsworth must be British, never heard of it.
  
  I didn't know people actually bought them expensive Blu-ray player over the cheaper user-friendly HD-DVD players.
  
  I'll probably never buy a PS3, xbox 360 looks a lot better.
  
  I'd rather get movies online than ever consider getting a Blu-ray player.
  
  h**p://www.petitiononline.com/SAVEHDD/petition.htmllmao you hd-dvd owners are so lame.you need a petition to save your sorry ass? lmao please your pathetic.you people have to admit that your 99 dollar players were clearance items and that xbox 3shitty wont help hddvd.i will never buy an hd-dvd addon for my 360 because its a dead format.Not an HD-DVD owner here and I would guess many aren't. My bet is many are like me.............defending the respect that HD-DVD deserves. I like both and don't care for one over another. Anyone who truly prefers one over another is a twit. There is NOTHING that the end-user can differentiate between the two EXCEPT that HD-DVD is more innovative. Check my other posts...........not a proponent of either..........both are sticking around for a looooong time. HD-DVD is still making lots of money with 30+ percent of the market. Sony will definitely hold a massive lead but won't cause the elimination of HD-DVD. If you disagree then just don't go into business for yourself...........as bad decision-makers don't fair well in business.

  29.1.2008 13:38 #20

• nobrainer

  Originally posted by chubbyInc: Woolsworth must be British, never heard of it.
  
  I'll probably never buy a PS3, xbox 360 looks a lot better.
  lWollworths is a uk high street store that sells overpriced media (cd, dvd, computer/console games), kids toys, board games, sweets, kids clothes, home wares, ect. THE SHOP IS A RIP OFF AND SUCKS, wollies has been losing custom for some time now, due to their rip off nature, and i for one will be glad when they disappear!
  
  Wollies have always ripped off the customers charging top whack for all media and i'm surprised they sell any but you always get the dumb idiots that think paying twice as much is ok if you ain't got to go out of the shopping arcade(mall for ppl in the us) and risk gettin mugged by hoddies!
  
  Poor sales hit Woolworths profits BBC Link
  
  Originally posted by hyperlink: Woolworths has unveiled a 74% drop in full-year profits, blaming a fall in entertainment and confectionery sales.like it matters what they do at all, lmfao!
  
  
  
  
  i will never own a sony propertarian, DRM hobbled, compatibility breaking, blu-ray player, i will stick to DVD's and if i want hi-def i will download and stream from my pc as i'm not buying into their jump through hoops to use something you apparently own!
  
  imho both the 360 and ps3 suck as its the same games i have seen over the last 20years with improved graphics and with less hours game play & terrible scripts.
  
  green screens, and better effects does NOT make good content.
  
  Dr Strangelove FTW. Originally posted by Sterling Hayden: A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hard-core Commie works.
  

  The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  
  The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  
  The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX.

  29.1.2008 14:03 #21

• chubbyInc

  Red2Tango,
  
  I didn't say anything about the HD add-on for the 360, I would never use a console for my high-def. You claim that you have an xbox360, but your contradicting comment makes me believe that your mommy hasn't bought you one yet. So why not leave this conversation to the big guys and go back to your sandbox.
  
  Woolsworth is probably like the Hudson's Bay Company out in Canada, overpriced for the same things you can get cheaper at Wal-mart.
  
  Save HD-DVD petition is a lot more mature than the Let HD-DVD Die petition!

  29.1.2008 15:29 #22

• glasssd

  I dont see how saying that the largest retailer of high definition discs in the UK realy does not mean anything!!! The writing is on the wall, internet, TV news, magazins etc... Does this mean nothing. Circuit City getting rid of HD-DVD players, Target not selling HD-DVD players. This means nothing. Warner, Disk Sales, Player Sales, CE support. I cant beleave that some people still think that it is not over. When Best Buy drops HD-DVD, will that mean nothing?

  29.1.2008 15:56 #23

• nobrainer

  @ glasssd
  
  wollies have help a monopoly for far too long and now with the likes of tesco's and asda,ect (uk supermarkets) and the rise of internet sales wollies is going down the pan and closing stores all over the country because ppl will not be continually ripped off. woolworths sales data in the uk means very little i'm afraid!
  
  find the Hi-Def sales data from tesco or asda.
  

  The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  
  The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  
  The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX.

  29.1.2008 16:58 #24

• NexGen76

  German retailer discounting Sony BDP-S300 for HD DVD player trade-in
  
  http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/29/ger...vd-player-trad/
  
  
  
  Really this whole format thing has become very laughable...Paramount & Universal can't be serious.They got to make a move before this year is up because HD-DVD ship is sinking very fast.

  29.1.2008 17:11 #25

• glasssd

  Nobrainer, I dont have access to them. I am curious if that is something that you could supply for us? We never get much real info from other places. Would be good to know. I just stated "largest retailer of high definition discs in the UK" because that is what we read here in the States.

  29.1.2008 18:13 #26

• cousinkix

  The F. W. Woolworth Company (often referred to as Woolworth's) was a retail company that was one of the original American five-and-dime stores. The first Woolworth's store was founded, with a loan of $300, in 1878 by Frank Winfield Woolworth. Despite growing to be one of the largest retail chains in the world through most of the 20th century, increased competition led to its decline beginning in the 1980s.
  
  In 1997, F. W. Woolworth Company converted itself into a sporting goods retailer, closing its remaining retail stores operating under the "Woolworth's" brand name and renaming itself Venator Group. By 2001, the company focused exclusively on the sporting goods market, changing its name to the present Foot Locker Inc
  
  Retail chains using the Woolworth name survive in the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Mexico, and South Africa. The similarly named Woolworth's supermarkets in Australia and New Zealand are operated by Woolworths Limited, a separate company with no historical links to the F. W. Woolworth Company or Foot Locker, Inc.

  29.1.2008 18:21 #27

• Nephilim

  Another child gone.
  
  Off topic personal comments will get you banned! I'll be checking this thread with each new post.
  

  
  
  My killer sig came courtesy of bb "El Jefe" mayo.
  The Forum Rules You Agreed To! http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/2487
  "And there we saw the giants, and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight" - Numbers 13:33

  29.1.2008 19:04 #28

• hoip

  hmm, i kinda wish woolworths here in aus would sell ps3 (grocery at woolworth here in aus is real cheap) rather than go thru there chain Big W which is kinda a rip.
  
  but i dont think alot ppl in aus realli care abt whether the format is Hd or blue ray because the cheaper one will prevail (mainli hd)

  29.1.2008 21:20 #29

• varnull

  Yup.. it's different on the asian rim.. we sell a huge amount of r5 dvd's.. because they are cheaper.. (then muggins here has to rip and burn them because the stoopids have region locked players)
  
  These blu-ray morons really get my goat.. it's like they WANT a drm riddled region hobbled format.
  
  Woolworths.. well I went into a large high street outlet earlier today.. and guess what.. No hd disks at all.. in either format. 360 games.. top 10.. ps3 games 3 out of top 10.. have not had delivery of the others, I asked a bored assistant.. and a bargain bin of ps2 (some full price, but not many) and xbox games..
  I only go in woolies when I need christmas decorations or boot soles (or fancy nicking a few sweets out of the pick'n'mix for munching while walking around the shop.. it's not stealing unless you leave with them XD).. heh heh heh £1.99 for another 3 years wear of my fave boots... that kind of stuff.. everything else is crap.
  
  lots of dvd titles though... at top dollar.
  

  
  
  Free open source software = made by end users who want an application to work.... Commercial "pay for" software = made by software developers who want paying... see where I'm going with this?

  29.1.2008 21:36 #30

• nobrainer

  Originally posted by NexGen76: German retailer discounting Sony BDP-S300 for HD DVD player trade-in
  why would you want the bdp-s300 exactly as it will NOT play and BD-r or DVD-r/+r media it has been blocked by sony because of the DRM and their greed. At least HD-DvD allows full playback of media and does NOT include the MPAA global price fixing tool regional coding unlike, Drm-Ray.
  
  Originally posted by myself:
  http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-documents.pl?mdl=BDPS300
  
  READ BELOW SONY PDF: Operating Instructions:
  
  http://www.iq.sony.com/srvs/DocsConnect/...ualid=99519&DL=
  
  and lookup "This player can play the following discs and files" and then look at "Examples of discs that the player cannot play" and you will see at the top BD-REs/BD-Rs, neither will it play DVD-RW, DVD-R film backups with stripped css or restructuring or without region coding!
  
  Bluray Recordable Disc Playback being reigned in!!?
  
  Originally posted by hyperlink: Was always supposed to be restricted, say Bluray insiders!
  
  The news first started to break on the Roxio user forums. One user created a BDMV production (I'll explain further down), which he burned to his Bluray BD-R disc, and then took it to his local electronics store to test on the new Sony BDP 300 player they had just gotten in. ALAS! It wouldn't play. So to help try to figure out what was going on, he posted queries on the Roxio site. To make the situation even more ominous and disturbing, another poster at Roxio reported that his friend at Pioneer had told him that Pioneer had been FORCED by Sony to remove BD-Recordable BDMV playback from their new player coming out, and ALSO that he believes that new players from Panasonic were also similarly affected.
  
  FOR ALL the ppl that think woollies sales matter, LMFAO, right woolworths have the largest monopoly in the highstreet and the largest install base but their hey day was in the 70's and 80's, they are having to close stores as they charge extortionate prices for all media and last year reported a sales revenue drop of over 70%, because amazon and the supermarkets selling cd, dvd and games for around half the cost as woolworths ppl do not purchase media from woolworths unless granny has sent a xmas gift voucher.
  

  The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  
  The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  
  The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX.

  30.1.2008 04:21 #31

• pensfan12

  Originally posted by hoip: hmm, i kinda wish woolworths here in aus would sell ps3 (grocery at woolworth here in aus is real cheap) rather than go thru there chain Big W which is kinda a rip.
  
  but i dont think alot ppl in aus realli care abt whether the format is Hd or blue ray because the cheaper one will prevail (mainli hd)
  whats so cheap about woolworths in Australia? I couldnt see them being cheaper than Big W if they started to sell HD DVD or BR.

  30.1.2008 23:05 #32

• Ryu77

  In Australia Woolworths sells DVD's but on a lesser scale to Big-W. Last time I looked Big-W stocks High Definition media (blu-ray/HD-DVD). I haven't checked lately to see if they've stopped stocking HD-DVD. Now, the thing is Woolworths and Big-W are the same company!
  
  After reading through this thread, I am getting a strong feeling that the Woolworths company is completely different to Australia in other parts of the World. In Australia Woolworths is quite strong with a Supermarket and/or Big-W accessible from every metropolitan area (even some rural areas).
  
  The news article mentioned the UK Woolworths, so I'm not sure if it relates to us here.
  
  EDIT: I just saw the very informative post that cousinkix made, so it seems there is no connection at all... :-D
  

  
  
  "If you think you can or you think you can't, either way... You're right!"

  31.1.2008 06:22 #33

• davidrose

  I thought Woolworth's were DROPPED news to me they're even still in business

  8.2.2008 01:12 #34

• borhan9

  The change has begun and well hopefully retailers have invested fairly evenly in both formats so that the loss of hd dvd is not very high.

  19.2.2008 23:58 #35

• davidrose

  STINKERS HD DVD I wish would ve won 180.00 brick thanks again MS I love you so not much.

  23.2.2008 10:10 #36