Blu-ray had 81% HD on disc market share in March

That means Blu-ray is out selling HD-DVD (a discontinued product) by only 4-1.

Surely the BD camp have to be concerned/embarrassed by this.

Agree, lame for Sony, oh wait, LAME Sony...

Very embarrassing! Especially since the install base of DVD by this time was 27 more movies per player, lol. Oh, but I'm sure the Blu Fanboys are right. Digital Download will never overtake Blu Ray. Riiiigggghhhhttt(heavy sarcasm).

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The first quarter of 2008 saw 4.9 million HD movies on disc sold. 3.8 million of those were Blu-ray titles. Since inception 9.8 million HD DVD and Blu-ray movies have been sold.

By the statement above, more high def disks have sold in the last 3 months than during 2006 and 2007 put together?

19% huh? Pretty good for a dead format. Seems the death throes are lasting quite awhile here. How much longer will they last?

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By the statement above, more high def disks have sold in the last 3 months than during 2006 and 2007 put together?

Just goes to show what poor starts both formats have had.

HD DVDs will probably continue to sell well for the rest of this year, as HD DVD owners snag as many good deals as they can find on new HD DVDs. Eventually, though, all things end, and most HD DVD sales will be in the used market, which should, nevertheless, continue to look good for many years to come. (Note used laser disc sales today.)

John

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Just goes to show what poor starts both formats have had.

Yes, it really makes one think that perhaps they were right about having two competing formats being bad for HD media adoption. In any case, that's phenomenal market growth after Warner went exclusive!

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in any case, that's phenomenal market growth after Warner went exclusive!

Agreed - its gone from non existent to very poor indeed.

Makes me wonder what the numbers would have been truly like pending that Blu-Ray was never packaged in a game console. Adoption would have been slower and war would still be on today.

The way I see it, this figures show that HD DVD had as good a chance of making it as the Blue Ray camp until WB went Blue exclusive. Too bad, I still think there was enough market for both formats and in the long run the additional competition would have been better for consumers.

Not only was there room, but competition is a necesity for everything...you make things better and cheaper (well, that's the main idea)...again, we have XBOX 360, PS3, and the 'underdog' Wii (yeah, the best selling console so far)...we have hundreds of restaurants...hundreds of stores...see what happened with BB and CC...what happened with Blockbuster and Netflix...

PEANUTS.

This still says to me "Watch out...Your Blu-ray player may be extinct in the near future."

I need to see some REAL progress. I still need to hear my parents,who are 60ish, say "Something" to me about knowing the format exists at all.

Again it isn't a proper representation of facts.

HD DVD went belly up at the early start of 2008, that caused a mass flood of people to buy HD DVD discs because they were on sale. Honestly all you HD DVD supporters out there tell me that you didn't take advantage of the clearance sales.

As for only 3 discs per blu-ray device, well that is obvious because a lot of people still haven't caught on their PS3 is a blu-ray player, and the PS3 makes up the largest majority of players.

Finally it is improper to compare blu-ray with DVD sales because there wasn't really any known competition of DVD when it first caught on while Blu-ray does. So it is not justifiable comparing sales numbers yet. Wait until 2009 or the last half of 2008 numbers before making judgments.

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As for only 3 discs per blu-ray device, well that is obvious because a lot of people still haven't caught on their PS3 is a blu-ray player, and the PS3 makes up the largest majority of players.

Not to mention that most PS3 players are hooked up to standard CRT lil' TV's in our kid's playrooms and bedrooms. Buying them Blu-ray disks (when they play standard DVDs also) would be a bit silly under those circumstances. We have all three consoles (PS3, XBox 360 Elite, and Wii). Our daughter likes the Wii best, while our 12 year old son I think prefers the XBox. Neither give a crap about Blu-ray (yet), even in my home theater room.

As far as Blu-ray adoption, I'm frankly amazed at the progress during this year. The fact that often over 10% of sales of day and date releases are Blu-ray means that we're already beyond any "niche" designation. All I can say is WOW!

in a related story 99% of home tape sales were by VHS. I think one guy found a Beta movie in a garage sale otherwise it would be 100%.

Skyhawk, you're trying WAY too hard.

Regardless, bluray sales are going to go up, it's inevitable. I'm curious to know how long DVD will hang around for. Most people are really happy with the picture quality and sound you get from it, not to mention it's a lot cheaper to own.

Will bluray have the success and mass adoption of DVD? Who knows. It'll be hard to get the majority to drop DVD. Remember when we had VHS there was a huge jump in video and sound quality when DVD came out. Plus you no longer had to worry about rewinding tapes or that your movies would degrade over time. With DVD the quality of picture or sound doesn't degrade, you just have to worry about scratches.

This thing with bluray vs DVD is not the same as VHS vs DVD. Plus you can get a DVD player for $50, cheapest bluray player costs $400.

Movielover....LOL.

[Post edited by Falcon01 on Apr 23, 2008]

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Skyhawk, you're trying WAY too hard.

Trying what? What did I say was wrong?

Anyway, yes I'm sure standard DVD will be around for more than another 10 years, and will be lead the majority of unit sales for many years to come. But I don't care (just like I don't care that many new releases are provided on VHS), because I don't buy them personally when given the choice. So long as my selections of new and catalog releases on Blu keep on increasing, I'll be a happy camper!

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But I don't care (just like I don't care that many new releases are provided on VHS),

Well you should, didn't you see my post they're dominating the market.

To be honest I don't care what format the movies come out on as long as they come out on a disc and it's 1080P/24 I'll buy them, until the next big hidef format emerges (4K or whatever it may be). I know movie downloads are supposed to be a big thing down the road but they will not offer the picture or sound quality of HD DVD or bluray for a very long time plus I like to have my movie on a shelf so I can throw it on at anytime and I know a lot of people prefer this also.

I don't know how popular downloads will be overall but I hope the disc format endures also for many years to come, whether it's on bluray or whatever the next big thing may be.

Falcon

When they get downloads down to a science, it will be bye bye for the disc. (You know this.) It will be just like the CD. Thats not to say you or I are going to like this(I love CD's and still buy them.) but it will be the next boom. Did anybody here buy into the high def VHS thing? Just wondering.

But getting back on topic. Once they do get DD down to A science,it will be kinda cool to order up any movie you want at any time. We may take a hit in picture quality and we wont have media to hold, but....yankow what,I change my mind. DD's are going to suck (badword).

I'm just trying to reprogram my mind for the future.

-Aint happening.

Falcon, I'm not as picky as you!

What I mean is that in the future they don't have to come on disk, but as long as I can pay one fee and play the movie permanently as many times as I like for one fixed cost in full HD with all the features - I'm all for it!

Imagine a VOD future where you'll be able to either rent movies (as today), or permanently add them to your owned list to play whenever you want. They have over 50,000 HD titles available all searchable by any critera, and offer either 5 bucks to rent or 10 to buy and add to your online library. You can organize and search your library anyway you like, and it offers uploading to any portable device via wireless for instant playback - even on plane flights!

And the cool thing is each title you buy is indexed like IMDB, and you can browse your collection by director, actor, producer, etc. And then argue on a community message board about the movie either through text or real time voice!

But seriously, I do think this is the future and I want it! But we do need some sort of legislation or whatever when that time comes that your bought movies are transferable to another provider in cases where the provider goes out of business or perhaps you just want to switch service. No LOCK IN ALLOWED, since most of the money goes to the studios anyway no matter which provider you would choose. Of course, this is my imaginary futuristic reality... but I bet someday this will be the norm. "The Computer IS the Network". Remember that? I think Sun Microsystems had it right, and Microsoft was all wrong back in those days. Downloading to personal thick clients and home storage for an ownership model? Nope. I don't believe that's going to fly in 10 to 30 years, as it would be stupid.

You heard it here first. And I want it!

I don't see how this is a failure for Sony. We all should have seen something like this coming because we all know how well HD DVD has been selling since Toshiba pulled the plug. The format will continue to sell well until the stock has been depleted and what ever is left over gets destroyed. After that it's an all Blu playing field, unfortunately.

These numbers tell me HD DVD could have survived the format war, albeit never won it.

I disagree with those folks who say HD DVD numbers are only up because of firesales. How many HD DVD, or dual format users have stopped buying HD DVDs since the Warner announcement? The answer is many, all you have to do is look at some of the posts that have been posted since the announcement.

I for one continue to puchase both formats, although lately my purchases have slowed down. We just have not seen as many sales as in the past. I miss the days of the format war if only for the great deals on high definition software and hardware.

Vertigo me too.

I don’t think the average person sees a huge difference between the regular DVD and the Blue-ray. The Blue camp will need to be more aggressive in order to make major inroads in the market. Without direct competition, they now have the golden opportunity. Nevertheless, if they want to make it to the mainstream market, the Blue camp should work really hard on the following: 1- They need to fix their player’s glitch issues (Player freezing in the middle of a movie, or not playing certain titles), 2- Grainy picture quality on some movies. 3- Create a value line that can compete in price with up converting DVD players. Otherwise, the Blue-ray future will be uncertain.

[Post edited by PerfectBlue on Apr 24, 2008]

and considering the majority of hddvd owners stopped purchasing HD DVD'S back in the beginning of january, back when sony paid off warner.... (besides from the odd discounted title, you might see)
yeah this isnt good for sony ?

ohh yeah ? is it me or since hdvd went under? you dont hear many people talking about high defination dics in stores much? i tend to pop into bestbuy at least once a week (see what new release's came out) and on the weekends i always see the blu-ray isle fully stacked with movies and no one there?

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is it me or

Yes, it's you.

(this info also posted in another thread, but relevant here too)



Everyone... check out this report (and numbers) about the latest growth in Blu-ray sales - very good despite the recent few months (annual tax time, both property and income taxes due between Jan and April 15), as well as the somewhat softer economy overall (recently)...

> Blu-ray Sales Surging on All Fronts - and notice further down some of the "relevant sales figures" (just for North America alone - even higher worldwide)...
___________________

-from the May 5, 2008 Scott Hettrick blog

Holy moly, it appears that some bloggers and media outlets were so anxious for any juicy new post-format-war story last week that they left all credibility behind and wound up sounding like bitter HD DVD format losers when reporting on and getting sucked into a couple of industry reports clearly designed to grab headlines about late 1Q hardware sales numbers that – no duh! – were lower than January sales.

A few quick reference points:

• Late 1Q numbers of almost anything, particularly electronics products, are almost always lower than immediate post-holiday numbers, which is when people traditionally run out to buy new gadgets on sale with their Christmas gift money.

• No one seemed to know enough to make the appropriate comparison of February/March 2008 vs February/March 2007, not January 2008.

• No one bothered to look at 1Q software sales to gauge the acceptance of Blu-ray by current customers.

• Once again, the media completely ignored sales of PlayStation 3 machines when discussing Blu-ray players even though the PS3 has been far and away the top-selling and most-used device for playing Blu-ray movies since it hit the market in late 2006.

So, let me provide a few relevant figures:

• There are more than 6 million Blu-ray players in the North American market alone (PS3 and stand-alone) – that’s up 50% from the 4 million just four months ago in December.

• More than 4.7 million copies of Blu-ray movies were sold in the first four months of the year in North America alone, a nearly 400% increase over 2007 and nearly half of the 10.8 million sold since inception, according to Home Media Research compiled by the Redhill Group.

• Blu-ray is growing from 2% of the total DVD business in 2007 to a projected 8% this year, with the percentage of Blu-ray vs DVD sales increasing even further on most new titles.

• 107 new Blu-ray titles were released from January through April, according to the DVD Release Report, and nearly 100 more are scheduled in May and June, according to High-Def Digest. The number of new releases this year will match last year’s total of 292 by the end of third quarter, before the busiest three-month selling season even begins.

All that amidst a suddenly and unexpected surge in demand for all things Blu-ray that caught suppliers offguard when HD DVD threw in the towel in mid-February, and a push to get the latest and most robust iteration of Blu-ray player models in the market this spring that offer Internet-connectivity in addition to all the previous interactive and picture-in-picture features.

What does all this mean? Blu-ray is surging strongly as expected and will take off even stronger in the coming months. And you can bet you’ll see all those same analysts and media outlets that generated last week’s headlines back with new headlines saying the exact opposite of what they reported last week. -[END]-



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-JIMI McLovin (the Voodoo Child)

But, Love, isn't the site from which you quote, "Hollywood in Hi-Def," owned by Sony?

John

Hey John... con you provide confirmation for the above^ - ?

I'm curious. Yes, I've known that the site is a Blu-ray promotional site, and editor Scott Hettrick used to work for Reed Business Information (publishers of Video Business), but I'm NOT aware that it may be owned by Sony (or thru one of it's divisions). From what I've been able to find out today, the site is controlled by the "GCI Group".

So, please provide confirmation info if you know for certain that Sony is the owner. And, do you think the information provided is misleading, and inaccurate?

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-JIMI McLovin (the Voodoo Child)

Love,

It's a tease. Remember way back a long time ago, back when you were a kid, and there was a high-def format war between Sony and Toshiba, and people kept saying things like "Yeah, but everybody knows Hollywood in High Def is owned by Sony."

I was just trying to make light of your rekindling of the fires.

John

I thought so John^, as after reading my post (before you replied) I thought-"he's probably kidding". Still, it definitely would be revealing if Sony is connected to the site (financially). But I doubt it. Hettrick is pretty sharp, and I don't think he would have accepted employment under this scenario.

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-JIMI McLovin (the Voodoo Child)
~ LaserDisc, DVD, HD-DVD, and Blu-ray ~