To put it lightly, Blockbuster has been taking a beating over the last little while thanks to on demand movies and companies such as Netflix. It appears they aren’t going to take the losses sitting down though and are ready to fight back. Blockbuster recently inked a deal with Samsung that will ensure that Blockbuster’s OnDemand service will come packaged with a whole host of Samsung products, such as home theater systems, Blu-ray players and HDTV’s starting this fall. On top of that, consumers who have purchased or will be purchasing products before the integration is complete will be offered a free upgrade to the Blockbuster service via firmware at a later date.
Why Samsung?
I know what you are thinking. Samsung has to be getting something in return right? Blockbuster will now be shelving and selling all sorts of exclusive Samsung products in their retail stores and online. The partnership allows Samsung to reach a whole new audience and get their products out there while giving Blockbuster some assurance that their OnDemand service will not fall by the wayside. Whether this venture will work or not for Blockbuster remains to be seen.
Blockbuster Gets Bullied By NetFlix
With NetFlix and Hulu dominating the market right now there isn’t too much to persuade consumers to buy into what Blockbuster has to offer. Then again, every little bit helps. If the service already comes pre-packaged with that killer LED HDTV you have been looking at, chances are you will be too lazy to switch to something else. I know I would be. Will all the hustle and bustle of today’s world, added fees and expensive technology, would you have the patience to switch over to another OnDemand system or continue to order from NetFlix? Even if all you had to do to use Blockbuster was push a button while sitting on the couch and have everything get done for you? If you have the energy, I applaud you. But my guess is that you aren’t the type of consumer that Blockbuster is after in the first place then are you?
