How Low Can They Go?

Beginning today, ASDA, a British supermarket chain owned by U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart, will offer its customers a DVD player for only £9 (just under US $18.00). ASDA, which has recently begun a big push behind low priced electronics, as have its supermarket rivals Tesco and Sainsbury's, says the unit is "Britain's lowest priced DVD player." (The player previously sold in ASDA stores for nearly twice the price, £17.84.)

Electronics and media have long been exorbitantly priced on the UK High Street, with TVs, DVD players, computers, CDs, DVDs and software significantly more expensive than the same items purchased overseas.

So selling this unit in the supermarket alongside a jug of wine and a loaf of bread should have quite an impact... at least for a couple of days.

ASDA says 80,000 of the DVD players - manufactured in China under their Durabrand label - are available in all of their 316 stores (and seven ASDA Living stores) throughout the UK and Northern Ireland. The company says it expects the DVD player to sell out within two days.

Peter Pritchard, the supermarket chain's general merchandise trading director, said in a prepared statement, "This is such a jaw-droppingly low price that customers might struggle to believe it, but we really are selling a DVD player for under a tenner."

To which we can only add: when the price of the hardware is lower than the price of a new DVD release, we've truly reached the age of the disposable DVD player.

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[Previously: Sainsbury's Buries Its DVD Rental Program]

Comments

[NoneMoreNegative]

"So selling this unit in the supermarket alongside a jug of wine and a loaf of bread should have quite an impact... at least for a couple of days."

'Sorry honey, I would have picked thou to sit in the wilderness with me, but I have the new season of 24 to watch on DVD.'; Impact indeed... :)