Good news on the retail front. Best Buy is offering customers $100 off Sony Corp.’s Playstation 3 when purchased with an HDTV $999 and up. The promotion intends to further high-definition sales.
Each PS3 sold includes a Blu-ray disc drive to playback high-definition titles.
Last week, Best Buy began offering a free $20 gift card with the purchase of any two Blu-ray disc titles.
The PS3 has seen strong sales following the Blu-ray camp’s victory over Toshiba Corp.’s HD DVD.
NPD Group Inc. on Thurs. recorded sales of 280,841 units sold in at U.S. retail in Feb., outselling Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 by 10 percent.
Microsoft this week denied reports that it was in talks with Sony to provide a Blu-ray option for the Xbox 360. It said instead, it would concentrate on digital distribution via the Xbox Live online service.
Sony Computer Entertainment America topper Jack Tretton this week cited Blu-ray as a factor for strong PS3 sales
Post Blu-ray victory, Sony should sustain strong U.S. sales in Q2 on the release game titles, including Take-Two Interactive Inc.’s Grand Theft Auto IV and Konami Corp.’s Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
Since the Blu-ray format victory, retailers have begun to offer incentives to drive the format to customers.
Amazon.com this week fired a new Blu-ray disc sale that discounted titles up to 53 %.
Titles in the new sale include Casino Royale, First Blood, Curse of the Golden Flower, Transporter 2, and A Knight’s Tale.
