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Data indicates 73 percent of sales were in Blu-ray disc format backed by Sony, 27 precent in HD DVD format backed by Toshiba.
The story "Blu-ray outsells HD DVD format in Europe" published November 27, 2007 at 6:33 AM is no longer available on CNET News.
Content from Reuters expires after 30 days.
(By the way, one of the most significant differences between Sony's BD-S300 and MUCH more expensive BD-S500 Blu-Ray players involved the higher-end model's ability to playback BD-R/RE disks such as you might burn on your computer. This advantage has been negated by subsequent firmware releases.)
In the standalone players market (which is where mass market adoiption will come from), HD DVD is massively outselling BluRay.
Facts don't lie...but you do.
Top selling dvd players on amazon
http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/electronics/172514/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_e_1_2
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/bestsellers/electronics/560860/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_ce_1_4_last
No one wants another non standard Sony format.
And anyway, its already been totally cracked, so just ignore it.
However the one big remaining issue is that Blu Ray is not region free...
And if anyone's considering a purchase, the numbers don't lie. Studio support, manufacturer support, and actual media purchases by real live customers are all you need to consider, and are all pointing clearly in the direction of Blu-ray. The HD-DVD camp is doing so much spinning that they've got to be dizzy by now.
And now with the announcement that China is to adopt HD DVD the war is basically won.
Sure the tiny attach rate from the few million PS3 are going to help Blu Ray disc sales figures for a bit, but the mass market is standalone players and the sales of those are overwhelmingly in favour of HD DVD.
Amazon shows large numbers purchases of the Toshiba HD-A3, a genuinely crippled and wholly obsolete machine that is available at very low prices. It is incapable of producing 1080p output, and nearly every large-screen TV these days is 1080p.
And it really DOES make a BIG difference in the viewing experience.
The HD-DVD format will eventually die out because of its obvious and insurmountable inferiority to Blu-Ray in every area of quality and data storage, a disadvantage that will only increase over time as so much additional layering is able to be accomplished on the Blu-Ray media. HD-DVD will only survive this Christmas season because of Toshiba and Microsoft's corrupt willingness to bribe movie studios NOT to release their content in Blu-Ray. Eventually, though, Blu-Ray's advantage in available titles and installed base will drive out HD-DVD, and it's just a darn shame that it didn't happen BEFORE I got my new home theater system so I could have avoided buying the Toshiba.
If these 100,000 customers have so much capability to change the market, then let's see it. Fact: Blu-ray media sales continue to dominate in every region of the world - only in the U.S. is it even a "contest", at a mere 2-to-1 or 3-to-1 ratio in favor of Blu-ray; everywhere else it's a blow-out. And that's just movies - add in the sales of Blu-ray console games, and it's "game over" already.
I have an XBOX 360 w/ HD-DVD player. It's very cool and King Kong in 1080 is just awesome. The bug scene is just creepy in 1080.
I want to see Harry Potter in HD, which will be released in HD-DVD format soon.
I am debating getting a PS3 for Blue-Ray, I don't care for the games, just want both HD formats.
1. Very little marketing for HD-DVD in Europe. Film companies say when they advertise films they say, it is available on DVD and Blu-ray, not on HD-DVD.
2. No Xbox 360 HD-DVD addons, the only players available are the Toshiba players. On the other hand, PS3 is available in most major electrical shops and hypermarkets/supermarkets.
3. Most of the major films being sold are from the Blu-ray only and the mixed format camps.
2. What planet are you on. The shops are full of Xbox 360 HD DVD add ons. Not that these will ever be a major impact on market share.
3. Well You must have missed the stupendous amount of Universal releases then. And now Paramount and Dreamworks too of course.
The reason is very simple - lots of PS3s out there that a few of the owners buy Blu Ray disks for. Once the mass market becomes standalone players it will be a different story.
I find it interesting that in Europe, where there is touted to be a huge installed base of Blu-Ray vs. small base of HD-DVD, that they are only capturing 73% of the sales. I think someone keeps saying 6 million BD verses a few hundred thousand HD? If these are remotely correct, it seems that a ration of 20 (or is it 30) to 1 should net more than just over 2 to 1 in sales (2 to 1 is at 66% market share).
It is also interesting that it is reported that the sales difference in the US is "almost 2 to 1" (meaning it was lower than 66%). This means they are selling even a smaller ratio in the US.
Finally, I find it very interesting that if you search on today's list of Amazon's top selling DVD players (http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/electronics/172514/ref=pd_ts_e_ldr_172514), you have 3 HD-DVD players in the top 10 and you have to go to number 15 before you hit the first Blu-Ray and all the way down to number 34 before the second one shows up (the first Sony model deosn't show up until number 48).
If we are to accept the Amazon numbers as representative of the consumer base, the sales of stand alone HD-DVD players is far exceeding the sales of Blu-Ray players. Now why doesn't the Blu-Ray sellers talk about stand alone unit sales instead of touting disc sales? Perhaps it would show their dark secret that they are relying on the Playstation 3 for most of their sales, and in the stand alone player market, they are losing ground.
Here's the opinion part:
Seems to me this battle is far from over. I am lucky enough to own both and think they are fairly comparable. I believe ultimately the price of the players will be the most important factor in deciding the consumer preference and only in this regard does any one format have a slight advantage. Even with this said, the market has mostly just captured early adopters and mainstream consumers have not yet spoken. Studio alliances will wane quickly if the mainstream shows a clear preference. So far there is no clear winner and too much marketing hype.
...Beeeecaaauuse most people are not going to buy movies if they don't have BD players? So clearly disc sales are a representation of people with BD players. I'd hate to think today's consumer has degenerated into buying movies without movie players or mp3s without mp3 players or gas without a car.
representative of the consumer base, the sales of stand alone
HD-DVD players is far exceeding the sales of Blu-Ray players.
Actually, there's little value in accepting the Amazon numbers as
this isn't a true statement--as you write it. Remember, the PS3
is a Blu-Ray player; hence, Blu-Ray players far outsell stand
alone HD-DVD players.
If you want to talk about stand-alone BD players, go ahead. But
what's the point when the installed base of overall BD players so
greatly outshines the overall sale of HD players?
And, yes,I know some folks with a PS3 who've never bought one
BD title; however, they've rented dozens of Blu-Ray discs and
not a single HD disc. Do you honestly think that PS3 owners
won't rent Blu-Ray discs when they have the option to do so?
Rhetorical question.
And Guerojose, nice posts: funny and on topic.
"The high-definition format war tilted even more heavily in favor of Blu-ray Disc despite a rash of inexpensive HD DVD players sold through Wal-Mart and other discount retailers in recent weeks. Nielsen VideoScan data for the week shows 72.6% of high-definition discs purchased by consumers were Blu-ray and just 27.4% were HD DVD. HD DVD players have been selling for as little as $98, one-fourth the lowest street price for a Blu-ray player."
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/home_entertainment/video/e3i8d5ddf2904a0aae38936c0078ef4de4a
When any format can make a comparison to a measurable percentage of market share of total discs sold (including comparison to regular DVDs), then we can give the numbers meaning. Until then, it is all just hype to get geeks like those of us that read this to "early adopt".
I used the other examples (like the Amazon list) to show that there are indicators all over that one format is leading another, but that they have little meaning. Disc sales alone is not a good measure when neither format is making a dent in the regular DVD market.
When mainstream consumers fork over their money to replace their aging DVD players, then it will have meaning. I continue to believe that to them, price of the major buy (the player) is more important than any non-visibly-noticeable technical differences. I also believe that movie studio support will not sway, since we all know the winning format will eventually get all the studios to support them.
I am puzzled why this subject breeds religious zealots that show such intolerance for other's point of view.
It just isn't that important.
- Blu Ray is better
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by 2jzgte
December 26, 2007 10:56 PM PST
- Blu Ray is better because it's not just a suped up dvd player but rather a product of commen sense. For instance Blu Ray uses a laser with a blue light because blue light has a shorter wavelength than a red light (red laser,dvd)With a shorter wavelength data can be made super small without them being ubable to be read and that is how a single layered Blu Ray disc can hold 25 gigabytes. The design of Blu Ray even saves on manafacturing costs. For even more info check out howstuffworks.com. In my opinion I believe that both Blu Ray and HD dvd can coexist. Soon however people will wind up buying both players. In conclusion HD and Blu Ray will tie until BD players become fully backwards compatible. I still support the fact that Blu Ray is better than HD.
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Reply to this comment
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- oops
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by 2jzgte
December 26, 2007 11:11 PM PST
- I apologize but HD dvd also uses a blue laser however Blu Ray is still at a higher transfer rate than HD which means better picture/sound quality. HD dvd and Blu Ray are both encoded in Mpeg-4 format too and still Blu Ray holds more ( Blu Ray still holding 20 more gigabytes tahn HD shows that Blu Ray engineers went above and beyond what HD dvd engineers could do). More memory isn't always better but the higher transfer rate is an important advantage for Blu Ray.
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- Too bad
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by stormed81
January 9, 2008 8:50 AM PST
- Too bad HD DVD is dual layer and supports 30GB.
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See all 47 Comments >>It has been stated that theoretically Blu Ray will expand to dual layer - but at this point that is just speculation.
So basically, you are saying blu ray is better because the laser is blue.