Is Blu-ray losing its shine, despite format win?

by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Saturday, 03 May 2008

Page 1 of 3 ! The NPD Group has issued findings that show Blu-ray adoption hasn’t spiked since the death of HD DVD – while sales of upconverting DVD players are up by 5%, instead! Although the NPD Group has only tracked sales of Blu-ray, HD DVD, standard definition DVD players and upconverting DVD players in the US, the US still remains one of the largest markets, and the news is grim. The primary reason given to NPD’s researchers in a previous survey is that Blu-ray players are still far too expensive when compared with DVD players, with most saying their existing DVD player was doing a fine job and simply did not – as yet, in any case – need replacing. Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis, NPD  said: "That standalone Blu-ray players haven't picked up significantly from HD DVD's loss shows that few consumers were dissuaded primarily by the 'format war'.” Rubin continued: “When we surveyed consumers late last year, an overwhelming number of them said they weren't investing in a new next-generation player because their old DVD player worked well and next-generation players were too expensive. It's clear from retail sales that those consumer sentiments are still holding true." What is true is that much of the excitement and press around the high-def format war dried up once Blu-ray had no more competition. Blu-ray players were also reported to have risen in price once HD DVD was no longer a threat, delivering manufacturers (or more likely, retailers) a higher profit per unit, and the expense of volume sales, a risky strategy especially when a format is young and people have proven that they don’t really care that much. NPD’s “Retail Tracking Service” discovered that Blu-ray players saw a 40% drop in US sales from January to February 2008, but did inch forward a measly 2% from February to March. HD DVD player sales fell, as did DVD player sales, while upconverting DVD player sales rose – please read onto page 2. << First page <   1 2 3 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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