Blu-ray sales double over last year. But don’t celebrate yet.
By Chris Gaylord | 04.20.09
Blu-ray’s first report card of 2009 has arrived. The high-definition discs started off the year with a great sign of growth.
Americans bought about 9 million Blu-ray titles from January through March. That’s nearly double the 4.8 million that sold during the first quarter of 2008, according to Adams Media Research.
The figure is a strong bullet point against detractors who think Blu-ray is just an interim format, a bump on the road to digital distribution. Despite the dragging economy, consumers are willing to hand over $20 or $30 per HD movie, and many times more than that for the 10.5 million Blu-ray players, the Adams report says.
But the “doubling” statistic is not quite as impressive as it sounds.
Bill Hunt at The Digital Bits points out that Blu-ray’s sales trajectory is behind that of DVDs. He blames this on the recession. (Blu-ray adoption is actually ahead of what it was for VHS when that format was rolled out back in the late ’70s.)
Second, the time frame doesn’t give an accurate picture of Blu-ray’s progress. January and February of last year were the final days of the format war against HD-DVD. Before March 2008, many consumers hesitated to pick either side, waiting to see which coalition of companies could knock out the other. Of course Blu-ray is doing better this winter compared to last year, when HD-DVD was hogging half of the spotlight. The real indicator will be the second quarter of 2009.
While we wait, Microsoft, one of the early HD-DVD backers, released an odd sign of support for Blu-ray. The 60-second spot has a mom and son running around Best Buy, hunting for the perfect laptop. By far the most passionate line in the video comes when they hover over a Sony Vaio and exclaim “Blu-ray!”
HD movies kinda go to waste on a 16.4-inch screen, but the happy pair walk away with the Vaio nonetheless.
[Video Business via CNET]
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2. Charles Fischer | 04.24.09
Blu-Ray is the only game in town if you want both High Def AND the extras that come with the DVD not to mention enjoying a large screen in the comfort of the home theater. Downloading has many years before bandwidth issues and screen size issues get resolved, let alone not having the extras included.
The main reason Blu-Ray has not really taken off as much as it could is very simple..they are way over-priced. Right now I only purchase Blu-ray box sets of TV shows when they are offered at huge discounts from sites like deepdiscount and Amazon. Meanwhile I get my high-def fix two ways: 1) HD programming on my cable subscription and 2) renting about 15 Blu-rays per month via my Blockbuster membership (which doesn’t charge a premium for Blu-ray, unlike Netflix).
3. WD User | 05.04.09
Blu Ray sales will eventually fall. The media players such as the on from Western Digital (paid $89) will take over. I can record HD Video with my camcorder and don’t have to spend money and time burning Blu Ray discs. I can stream video from my passport or any USB hard drive. Netflix and other are already offering streaming video.
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1. TC Rider | 04.21.09
While Blu-Ray might be a waste on the 16″ laptop screen, most Sony Vaio laptops with Blu-Ray players, also have a built in HDMI port to allow easy hookup to the 52″ screen in the family room!