Consumer electronics faced a bombshell declaration in February as Toshiba announced it would halt production of HD DVD players in March of 2008. Effectively handing victory in the second generation DVD war to Sony's Blu Ray player, prices on both players and discs bobbled a bit like both company's stock prices. The issue looming for wholesale electronic retailers is how will this trickle down and affect their merchandise sector? In the coming year, expect the resolution of the second generation DVD dispute to open up HD DVD products for large scale liquidation, consumer attitude changes in DVD player sales and discs, and higher expectations of the home theater for average Americans.

HD DVD will be dead despite Microsoft's best efforts to sway consumers otherwise. Too many large movie studios have signed exclusive distribution deals with Blu-Ray, and HD DVD player sales have lagged behind Blu-Ray players to prevent customer demand from overriding this truth. Companies will not be offering any take backs, but will be looking to remove their now overstock of HD DVD discs. Since HD DVD discs were only slightly higher in retail price than first-generation DVDs, at wholesale levels they will have identical or even lower price tags. Expect wholesale opportunities in HD DVD products to last for a few years, and even longer if a large enough minority population develops from those unwilling to give up the fight against Blu-Ray.

DVD players are going to finally move down the social ladder of home electronics. Retail prices of mass produced DVD players were already well within the budget of even low-income families. Where did all of the still functioning VCR players go when DVD players took off? Into the kids' bedrooms and playrooms where the remainder DVD players will also find new homes as families make space for the next generation in DVD viewing. Upper middle class children and above have owned DVD players for quite some time, but in the next few years more children from lower income families will have personal DVD players at their disposal. Now VHS tapes of children's films will be cast off as an odd rectangular blocks, very interesting to take apart.

As more families purchase Blu-Ray players, or even wholesale HD DVD players, other upgrades will also come with the addition to the home electronics array. What good is a high definition picture on anything but a high definition TV? Why listen to what could be crystal clear sound through muddled single channel TV speakers? Expect a surge in customers looking for wholesale television solutions and liquidated speaker systems. Wholesale HD cable connectors and Monster cable speaker wires will soon be seen as necessities, not luxuries. New wholesale video game system brands like XBOX, and Playstation are also now desirable to families now upgrading to high definition picture and multiple channel surround sound.

Technology seems to change so fast, it can be difficult to keep up. The good news is upgrades seem to arrive just as the nation's attention span with an electronic good is just about spent. Recognizing the upcoming trends in wholesale electronics provides vital pieces of information for wholesale retailers. Before trends become hot, wholesale retailers need to arrange for steady supplies of overstock and liquidated electronic products. Business to business wholesale retailers will have home electronic pallets and truckloads of merchandise ready for resale to eager consumers. Preparation for the storage space, shelf space, and delivery time frames all push business to business wholesale stock buying decisions to many months before a customer ever sees a discounted electronic item in your store. Finally, adjustments in electronic overstock buying made now to reflect trends to come are important insulators to profit. The shifts in consumer desires will come, and when they do your wholesale electronics inventory will be ready and waiting.