Blu-ray outselling HD DVD? Arguments rage

Stan Beer
Tuesday, 24 April 2007 05:18

Your IT - Entertainment

The arguments continue to rage as to whether Blu-ray is winning the high definition video format war, with new retail figures showing that Blu-ray outsold HD DVD by more than two to one for the first quarter of 2007.

According to a report in Home Media Magazine, Blu-ray not only grabbed 70% of the sales in the March quarter but the Sony developed format actually increased its market share to nearly 75% in the month of March.

While there is still much contention as to which high definition format will prevail, if the data is correct, then it appears that Blu-ray is well on its way to becoming the format of choice.

As the Home Media article points out, despite the fact that Blu-ray was two months later to market than HD DVD, it has now taken a clear lead in number of discs sold. In addition, there is evidence to suggest that that Blu-ray is outselling HD DVD on titles released in both formats.

Blu-ray would also appear to have the advantage in backing from the major movie studios, with Disney, Sony and Fox not bothering to release titles in HD DVD, while Universal continues to snub Blu-ray in favor of HD DVD. However, with Blu-ray outselling or at least matching HD DVD sales, it is open to question whether Universal can afford to maintain that stance.

There is an argument that Blu-ray sales are being somehow artificially inflated by sales of the new Sony games console PlayStation 3, which incorporates a Blu-ray player. While there is no doubt that PS3 sales are helping to get Blu-ray players into the homes of consumers, the Home Media data focuses on sales of movie titles not players. If the data is correct, then HD DVD could be on the ropes. The coming quarter could reveal much about whether the format war is coming to an end or continues to rage.