Blu-ray Disc players beating HD
22 Jun 2007 14:30
If the contest for most popular DVD player were a beauty pageant, Miss Blu-ray would be sitting on a throne, wearing a gaudy crown and trying not to cry with happiness while Miss HD did her best to pull her 'I'm not upset' face. Admittedly these second generation DVD players are about delivering high quality images, not wearing high heels or talking about how they dream of world peace, but you get the idea.
Because a recent survey has revealed that there are approximately 1.5 million Blu-ray Disc players in US homes, compared to just 300,000 HD DVD players.
The survey, conducted by research firm Digital Entertainment Group (DEG), also shows that consumers have spent $35 million (£18 million) on titles released on the Blu-ray format, compared to $19 million (£9,500,000) on HD DVDs, Video Business reports.
Warner Bros senior vice president Steve Nickerson presented the results last week, and he said: "Between April and mid-December, it was a warm-up, and since Christmas, it has been a very sustained level of business. Really, this year is preparing for further consumer uptake of high-def. It will mirror the year 1999 or 2000 for DVD."
However, Helen Davis Jayalath, a senior video analyst at research firm Screen Digest, believes that HD players may catch up with Blu-ray. She added: "It's in the very, very early days of our forecasts, but we believe that High-Definition discs will help return consumer video spending to growth."
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