Vudu slashes prices in half

In a move sure to please interested consumers, Vudu announced it has slashed the price of its video-on-demand box from $300 down to $149.

The most recent price cut leaves the Vudu HD movie rental box about $80 cheaper than Apple TV, which should help boost sales further.  Vudu launched the device in Sept. 2007 for $400 and it took only four months before the price reached $300.

Vudu is also extremely happy with its current content library, which includes large catalog of high-definition content.

"This is exciting news for the Internet to TV content delivery market. In just a year, we’ve been able to drive down the price of the product by 50 % while increasing image and sound quality, growing our content library to more than 13,000 movies and TV shows, building the world’s largest HD library of more than 1,300 titles, and providing access to free Internet content."

Furthermore, Vudu also cut the price of its Vudu XL device from $999 down to $499, including a home theater connectivity software package, if you’re able to actually find one in stores.

As consumers continue to reduce spending on many items due to the struggling economy, it seems many people are still willing to splurge on entertainment devices.  Vudu is "reaping awards of success in the retail channel over the holidays, lower component prices and higher movie revenues," which allowed them to reduce the price $150, according to Edward Lichty, Vudu EVP of strategy.

Vudu hasn’t released public sales figures, so the price cut could have occurred just to allow the company to better compete with Apple.