MoneyWatch Tech

Panasonic's Avatar Sales Strategy: You Gotta Buy The 3-D Glasses

By Damon Brown

Updated on: December 3, 2010 / 11:53 AM EST / MoneyWatch

Panasonic is making consumers buy its 3D glasses to get the first 3D Blu-Ray home version of James Cameron's Avatar. Believe it or not, the best-selling movie of all time hasn't been available in 3D yet. In light of slumping sales for Hollywood and Blu-Ray itself, the movie/glasses package deal is a brilliant idea.

Blu-Ray has been on steady decline since last year. As I noted earlier this year, there are three major reasons:

Little reason to upgrade from DVD to Blu-Ray
The convenience of streaming movies
There were no worthwhile 3D Blu-Ray movies

The Panasonic package mitigates all three issues. Enticed by Avatar 3D, consumers can grab the Blu-Ray 3D package, which in turn will encourage more Blu-Ray 3D movie purchases -- after all, after they invest the money in the glasses, they'll want to use them frequently.

This would be pure speculation, but the evidence is already here: According to Engadget's Richard Lawler, 3D Blu-Ray versions of Avatar are already selling on eBay for hundreds of dollars. Just to be clear, the movie which comes packed with two pair of 3D glasses is selling for more than the glasses and a Blu-Ray device combined. It shows the demand for the movie, but it also gives incentive for consumers on the fence about Blu-Ray to just pick up the package right now. The only people who would gain from buying the aftermarket Avatar 3D at such high prices would be early adopters who already have a Blu-Ray player and a 3D setup.

The real goal here, of course, is for Panasonic to get more loyal 3D customers. As discussed earlier this year, the Panasonic 3D glasses are proprietary technology -- they cannot be used with any other 3D devices. Considering the investment, these Avatar customers will probably be customers for life.

Panasonic's strategy is also a great way for Hollywood to get past stores cutting back on their movie selection. Earlier this year, both Target (TGT) and Best Buy decided to dedicate less floor space to physical media. In particular, Best Buy said it wanted to focus more on the devices delivering the media instead of the media itself. The Panasonic Blu-Ray glasses package fits their agendas while still selling physical media. (Best Buy is already selling it, too.)

The record-breaking movie Avatar is one of the few titles that could actually move more glasses, but expect the next major 3D hit, whether it be Tron: Legacy or The Green Hornet, to follow suit in the next generation of glasses or Blu-Ray players.

Photo courtesy // CC 2.0
Related: