Blu-ray Wins the Format War Oct 8, 2008

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The HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray format war ended in early 2008, with Blu-ray the winner, reports In-Stat, but, do not expect a quick ramp up of Blu-ray player sales to standard DVD player levels any time soon, as prices for Blu-ray players are still high, the market research firm says. Meanwhile, the DVD hardware market will decline in 2008, as DVD players have reached saturation in some markets and DVD recorders never caught consumers’ attention the way DVD players did.

"DVD recorders have been most popular in Europe and Japan, but Blu-ray recorders are taking over in Japan while interest wanes in Europe, possibly due to increasing shipments of hard drive-based DVRs," says Michelle Abraham, In-Stat analyst.

In-Stat found that:
• The market for Blu-ray players and recorders will reach 5 million in 2008 with solid growth continuing if prices decline.
• Worldwide DVD player and recorder sales reached 142 million units in 2007.
• North America, Europe, Japan, and China have seen declines in their DVD player markets.
• Developing countries in other parts of the world are the only bright spots in the DVD player market.

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