That's my point... 4K is why they're so expensive. Obviously it'd be nice if they could include 4K and keep the price low, but that's never going to happen, so I'd rather they just didn't include it, or at least give us a separate 2D release.
Retailers end up with unsold stock due to only having 1 edition with 4K/2D when priced at £29.99 or more
A lot of consumers are happy enough with Blu-ray some even have a 4K TV set up in their homes and don't purchase 4K UHD discs.
Price of £20.99 to £22.99 or max £24.99 is best suited if a distributor is going for just 1 steelbook edition and those that have 4K TV setup can play the disc if they want while those that don't have 4K setup or are not interested in 4K not end up having to pay £29.99 or more.
At the moment separate steelbooks work best for both retailers and consumers with the prices of 4K/3D/2D only steelbooks
HMV need to realise this if they want their exclusives to sell well.
End of the day it's same steelbook when separate so it's not costing the distributor any extra costs in print run in terms of the steelbook itself.
They end up getting more unit sales if separate.
4K UHD steelbooks really only sell out when they are a % of a steelbook print run with most of the print run going towards separate 3D/2D or 2D steelbook
There is very few all in one 4K/3D/2D steelbooks priced at £29.99 that have sold out Blade Runner 2049 is an exception
The ones that have sold well mostly have been priced £22.99 or £24.99
War for the planet of the apes 4K/3D/2D only sold out when price dropped to £14.99
This will likely get a release in Europe with some retailers and be 2D steelbook only