In the fall of 2005, we reported that Toshiba was making HD DVD technology available to Chinese manufacturers with the hope that they would be able to produce low cost players. It took longer than expected, but Chinese manufactured HD DVD players are finally on the way. According to an article at Engadget, Walmart has ordered 2 million HD DVD players from China's Great Wall corporation and plans to sell them for about $299.
Get ready to get your cheap HD on kids. Wal-Mart just threw down some serious green for a batch of Chinese-made HD DVD players. Just as they brought DVD players down to near-disposable status, their deal for 2 million HD DVD players produced by China's Great Wall corporation will ultimately do the same for hi-def optical. The guts are developed by Taiwan's Fuh Yuan with a touch of help from Japan's TDK. How much? A magical $299, that's how much -- $100 less than the cheapest available HD DVD rig (Toshiba's A2) and half of Sony's $600 BDP-S300 Blu-ray Disc player. It's not clear when we'll see the first units on Wal-Mart shelves, only that the final shipment from the order is expected before 2008 is over.
With the Toshiba HD-A2 already selling for less than $330 on Amazon, the price of Walmart's player is a bit high. Then again, its very likely that the price will come down before it actually ships. If you'd like to read more, Engadget's entire report can be found here.
