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Best Buy to move Blu-ray to $100

by on21 October 2008

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Price $200 with $100 in Blu-ray movie coupons


With Blu-ray players continuing to inch closer and closer to the $200 price point, word has reached us that Best Buy will change the playing field again by lowering the bar to $100 with $100 in Blu-Ray movie coupons.

The Insignia NS-BRDVD player is about as stripped down as it gets for a Blu-ray player, and while the promotion might sound a bit like a “bait and switch” tactic, in reality the promotion is very simple: purchase the NS-BRDVD for $199 and get $100 of coupons toward Blu-ray movies that you were going to purchase, anyway. While the biggest restriction of the deal is that you have to purchase the Blu-ray titles at Best Buy, we suspect that some other restrictions will apply as well, but we don’t yet know what they all are.

Best Buy is also getting a jump on some of their competitors by dropping the prices of several other Blu-ray players, moving the Sony BDP-S350 to $299 and the Samsung BD-P1500 to $299, as well. They also dropped the price of the higher-end Samsung BD-P2550 to $399. The catch is that all of these price cuts are offered in some sort of rebate or package combinations to reach their new price point.

Best Buy is likely starting to feel some pressure, as other retailers such as Wal-mart, Sam’s Club and Costco are already selling players that are very close to or are right at the $200 price point. In addition to the brick and mortar brigade, online retailers are selling players like the Sony BDP-300 for as little as $190 plus shipping.

It is predicted that this holiday season will mean a lot to the long-term success of the Blu-ray format. Many manufacturers of both the players and Blu-ray titles are putting a lot of effort into making Blu-ray the ‘must have’ consumer electronics product for this holiday season. Still, many consumers are quite happy with their standard DVD players and have not rushed to embrace the Blu-ray format.

Sailing has not been as smooth as some had hoped after the elimination of HD DVD and this holiday season should tell a lot about the consumer interest in the Blu-ray format. With consumers spending less money this holiday season, it will be very interesting to see how many make a Blu-ray player among their top purchases this holiday season as spending is expected to be more limited.

Last modified on 21 October 2008
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