Posted by caliman.john on 01/06/08 15:42

According to Max Everett, owner of several electronics stores in
Kansas and Oklahoma, many people will be "completely unaffected" by
Warner Brothers, at least for awhile.

"Many of the locals don't have Internet or world wide web. They come
to actual stores to do their shopping, including ours as well as large
chains, and they see what's available on store shelves and buy
products based on what's available. Most of these people aren't going
to be affected by this Warner Brothers decision, because most of them
won't know, for at least four or five months, if not longer, because
even after that, there could be Warner hd dvds lingering on store
shelves for several months after that."

Mr. Everett goes on to say "The only way we could see an immediate
impact is if larger retail chains like Wal-Mart, BestBuy, Target, and
others ditch the format completely sometime soon. I will re-iterate my
statements. Although there are many states which rely heavily on
Internet, your average Joe doesn't shop on-line. Most people like to
see the products they buy, and they want their products right then and
there. People are also generally afraid of credit card fraud and
identity theft on-line. The consensus is that there are too many risks
associated with buying on-line."

When asked what percentage of sales were Hi-Def and which of those
percents were HD-DVD and which were Blu-Ray, Mr. Everett's said "Each
of our stores have a different market, but our hi-def format sales
average between 7% and 10% of all video sales. Our HDTV sales are 95%,
Digital SDTV and clearance Analog SDTV sales make up the other 5%. I
don't know the specifics of hd dvd vs blu-ray sales but believe it's
about 65% in blu-ray's favor, if only because of playstation three
sales. The people that aren't interested in games usually go toward
what's cheaper, and hd dvd systems are more cost effective."

Mr. Everett was then asked why his Blu-Ray VS HD-DVD ratio was so much
different than on-line numbers, and this is what he had to say "I
don't know. I can only say that the web is huge, and in a huge
network, and in such a large world, it's easy to mis-place numbers.
Numbers can change dramatically from 7am to 5pm. In our stores, we
don't have those problems. We have a paper trail for everything, to
show as proof. Hell, it's the law. If we get audited, we have to have
that information. It's a system that's worked for thousands of years."

Asked about his opinion on the format war, this is what Max Everett
had to say "If you look at this so-called format war on the world wide
web, you'd notice that so many people take it too seriously. There are
literally people getting in to online shouting matches, cursing each
other out, and threatening to kill one another. It's a bunch of
propaganda and drama. Locally, however, things are much more calm.
People come in to our stores, ask questions, and we try our best to
answer any of their questions and let the customers decide what format
they want. People on the web argue and fuss about the war, but we
talk, drink some ice tea, and have a laugh about it all."

He goes on to say "I personally don't have a preference for either
format. We make more money off of HDTVs than we make on HD movies. It
could literally be another four or five years before HD movies really
make a difference. They're not really cost effective, especially
considering you can get a DVR/PVR system and lots of hi-def content on
several of the satellite services. Starz, HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Pay
Per Via, and TMC premium movie channels are all available in HD, many
locals are available in HD, several niche programming channels are
available in HD, and even my favorite HD channel: Discovery HD. They
have an HD channel for every one, not to mention that HBO is preparing
to change over all of their broadcasts to HD-only."

Asked about the impact of die-hard theater enthusiasts and their
influence in the hi-def market, Mr. Everett replies "Ha ha.. It's
funny, actually. Many call themselves experts or theater buffs. We can
usually pick them out before they even walk through the door. They all
have a look and unique attitude. That's about all I can say about
them. I can honestly say that the theater buff market itself is a very
slim market. We don't stock hundreds of Nakamichi and Harman/Kardon
products, because those items generally aren't what our customers are
looking for. In essence, the theater buff market is a niche market in
itself. Other than televisions, we sell less than 150 home theater
products over the $700 price each year, and that's in all of our
stores combined."

From what we've gathered, there will be little or no changes for blu-
ray or HD-DVD for several months. This shouldn't be considered a
sweeping or fast victory for blu-ray either. In one year's time,
several dramatic changes can occur in the format war, to sway one or
more studios from one format to the next.

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