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VIRTUALISATION HD DVD camp crows about record Transformers sales
VIRTUALISATION HD DVD camp crows about record Transformers sales | HD DVD camp crows about record Transformers sales |
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| by Stan Beer | |
| Tuesday, 23 October 2007 | |
  
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Additionally, in the first week alone, over 20% of consumers have connected to the web-enabled features available on the Transformers HD DVD, according to the format's advocates. However, the success of the Transformers in the HD DVD space is also very much a factor of the overall success of the title, which has become a smash hit since the feature film was released earlier this year. The film has grossed US$700 million at the box office and DVD sales since October 16, when it was released to video, have reached 8.3 million units. The relative sales success of Transformers on HD DVD demonstrates starkly that availability of content could well be a determining factor in the fortunes of the opposing Blu-ray and HD DVD high definition video formats. At present, Blu-ray still has the edge in major studio support, with Sony Pictures, MGM, Disney, 20th Century Fox and Lionsgate all supporting the format exclsuively in the US. However, HD DVD is not out of the race, with exclusive support from Universal, and the recent defection for a wad of cash by Paramount and Dreamworks. Warner Brothers currently offers support for both formats. The point has been made, however, that outside the US exclusively Blu-ray and HD DVD titles are often released by distributors on both formats. It will be interesting to see if Transformers makes it to Blu-ray outside the US. Another factor is of course the penetration of high definition players. Blu-ray currently has a significant advantage in this regard because of the inclusion of a Blu-ray player in the PS3 games console, which has now sold more than 5 million units worldwide, including about 2 million in the US. While HD DVD players are still significantly cheaper than Blu-ray players, the cost of the player is relatively minor compared to the most expensive component of a high definition video system which is a good quality high definition TV monitor. Despite the bouyant initial HD DVD sales of Transformers, the news begs the question, how many more Blu-ray sales did Paramount and Dreamworks miss out on by going exclusively HD DVD? Recent Paramount top sellers Disturbia and Shooter were released in both formats and figures showed that Blu-ray discs accounted for more than 58% of sales of Shooter and more than 64% of sales of Disturbia. |
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