Blu-ray to rule by 2011

Blu-ray backer Sony has announced that the format’s likely to outsell DVD globally in 2011, with over 5m Blu-ray discs having been sold around the world this year already.

According to a report by Digitimes, Tim Meade, Asia Pacific Vice President for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, said at a recent press conference in Taipei that US market reports indicate that the global sales ratio of Blu-ray films to DVD will rise to a ratio of roughly 40:60 in 2010.

About 12 months after this, he expects global Blu-ray sales to surpass those of DVD. He said 11m Blu-ray film discs have been sold globally so far.

In the run-up to his 2011 claim, Meade added that sales of films on Blu-ray discs – as a percentage of all formats – will have increased from 9 per cent at the end of 2007 to 25 per cent by the end of this year.

Blu-ray players will, Meade claimed, account for 15 per cent of all video players sold by the end of this year, up from between seven and 10 per cent in 2007.