Best Buy, Wal-Mart cut HD-DVD player prices

MINNEAPOLIS Best Buy and Wal-Mart kicked off Black Friday three weeks early with a sale on Toshiba HD-DVD players that lowered the price below $100.

As part of its “Secret Sale,” Wal-Mart lowered the price of the Toshiba HD-A2 player to $98.87 on Nov. 2. The previous day, Best Buy listed the same player for $99 for as long as supplies last.

It’s not clear why both retailers staged the limited sales but it may have been to clear out inventory, since the next-generation HD-A3 player just arrived on the market at a $249 price point, the same SRP as the HD-A2.

Last week, Circuit City and Amazon.com began selling those Toshiba players for $198, marking the first time the price of a high definition DVD player went below the $200 mark. In comparison, Sony said it would lower the price of its standard Blu-ray player this month to $399.