Blu-ray outsells HD DVD 2:1 in US
But lead narrowing fast
US consumers bought almost twice as many Blu-ray Discs than HD DVDs in the first nine months of 2007, trade title Home Media Magazine has claimed.
Some 1.4m HD DVDs were sold in States from the beginning of January through to the end of September. In the same period, consumers bought 2.6m BDs, HMM subsidiary Home Media Research said by way of the Reuters news agency.
That 2:1 sales ratio is pretty much where the two formats were back in July, when HMM reported first-half sales of 1.6m BDs and 795,000 HD DVDs.
However, the figures are not good news for either format.
Looking back over HMM's cumulative three-, six- and now nine-month sales totals, we can see how each format performed on a quarter-by-quarter basis. Both formats showed significant growth between Q1 and Q2, driven by lower HD DVD player prices, better availability of BD players and growing PlayStation 3 sales, we'd say.
US 2007 hi-def disc sales
Source: Home Media Research, Register Hardware
However, during the summer quarter, sales of both formats slipped by big margins, despite the launch of high-profile title 300 at the end of July.
BD sales dropped the furthest in Q3, but then the format had much further to fall from. Still, if the trend continues, it's hard to see the format's sales nearing those of HD DVD.
But will the trend continue? This month's HD DVD-only release of Transformers will, as we reported yesterday, give a big boost to the Toshiba-backed format. You can add at least 190,000 to the HD DVD Q4 total from Transformers' first week on sale.
We're also moving toward the US Thanksgiving and Christmas sales period, which will surely benefit both formats. HD DVD players are at all-time low prices, and while standalone BD players remain expensive in comparison, more are coming to market. And next month Sony will release its $399 40GB PS3.
COMMENTS
HD-DVD is better than Blu-Ray
[ intro: CDs were developed first by Philips for release when their royalties on casette tape ran out. Sony was employed to help out with miniturization. Philips has been a company that always expected very low unit royalties. DVD was the logical extension to CD. ]
HD-DVD is the logical extension to DVD technology which was developed by an industry consortium. Sony joined this consortium, then sprung proprientary Blu-Ray onto it claiming "problem solved". Things like 10-base-T, USB, DD2, DD3, MPEG2, UNIX, LINUX, and many other technolgies are open and this is the way the world wants it.
DVD pressing machines can be easily modified to produce HD-DVD with a low-cost upgrade. This technology is so cool that it is now possible to produce combo discs (DVD on one side, HD-DVD on the other).
Blu-Ray pressing machines are high-cost brand new units. What's worse is that Blu-Ray discs are very fragile and are worthless once they're scratched (the info is stored close to one surface). Sony's solution to this problem is to bring back those disc caddies we all hate. I don't know how such fragile discs will ever be rented in retail outlets like BlockBuster.
So let's not get sucked into another proprietary technology.
Huge difference between SD and HD
I keep hearing people say "There is not a massive difference between either HD format and upscaled DVD".
Well, some people can't tell the difference between the school band and a professional symphony orchestra either. Can't tell the difference? Maybe your PS3 or HD-DVD player is connected to your TV via A/V cables..
Its your right to say - "SD as good enough for me".
Its not a crime to have eyes as burned out as your childhod TV set.
BUT don't mislead others.
Storm in a teacup
To set things straight, you've apparently all missed the fact that plain ol' DVD is still outselling both these lame ducks by 10 to 1.
And as long as DRM has its ugly fingers all over any format, I'm not buying in. As has been said, your hardware can be revoked on a whim with these new formats, because they can.
Well I refuse to run the risk of that. Besides, DVD is good enough for watching whatever drivel they're showing these days.
bellyaching
all this belly aching is already redundant.
the format of choice is clearly going to be VOD. Its a done deal. the Xbox and the PS3 are more than capable of delivering it. The discs are too late to the game, they are dead in the water.
Sales???
None of these shiny discs are actually sold. They are being rented out to ignorant and unsuspecting punters. At any time the content owners can revoke the keys to these discs and it's just tough luck for those who spent their money on that crap.
Equally, the device keys can be revoked just as easily to add an expensive brick to the collection of coasters accumulated by the unwary connoisseur of HD.
Oh, and if you think they will never do that (because they are nice people, right) - go ahead and try.
