Blu-ray beating HD-DVD in sales 2 to 1

Mathew Everett 2 Feb, 2007 at 11:35am ET Article published in Tech

In the all out High Definition battle Blu-Ray is starting to show its true colors. With Sony’s PS3 being the drive behind the Blu-Ray players, it is only a matter of time before Blu-ray closes the already narrow gap between overall sales.

Nielsen VideoScan’s figures add up sales from retail registers, along with some websites, and cover the second week of January 2007. According to Nielsen, Blu-Ray has also closed the gap in total sales since inception from 14% to 7%. If the trend continues, Blu-Ray should overtake HD-DVD in less than a month.

Comments

2 Feb 2007 ~ 12:52pm Sledgehammer70 I honestly believe Blu-ray will end up winning this war. Don't ask me why, it is just the way I am thinking
2 Feb 2007 ~ 1:01pm Thrax I hope and wish it would not.
2 Feb 2007 ~ 1:15pm Nolf-Job Thrax, might I ask you to provide a brief explanation for your preference?
2 Feb 2007 ~ 1:15pm Thrax Absolutely. Give me about an hour to get home from work.
2 Feb 2007 ~ 3:04pm Thrax 1. Video format: The Blu-Ray consortium has announced that it prefers MPEG2 to VC1. VC1 uses higher bitrates, and is mathematically much more accurate at encoding a sharp picture. HD-DVD's preferred format is VC1.

2. End-user price: HD-DVD wins.. Every element of HD-DVD-specific components is cheaper.

3. Mfgr. price: Every stage of HD-DVD production is cheaper. Those shiny double and triple-layer Blu-Ray discs might as well be made of gold compared to the dual layer HD-DVD masters.

4. Content protection: HD-DVD is less stringent about constant watchdogging of AACS.

//EDIT: I'll also note that these figures contradict <i>every</i> previous independent study.
2 Feb 2007 ~ 5:39pm Sledgehammer70 Ah price is over rated and from this article most people are in the same thought. If you ask 10 people what is better "even if they have no idea" 7 out of 10 say Blu-ray... why? because they heard about it way more than HD-DVD, word of mouth I think will win this battle, and to the point costs of thing will go down as they always do, if I remember correctly Blu-ray is inline with what DVD's cost back when they came out.
2 Feb 2007 ~ 8:15pm shwaip

Sledgehammer70 wrote:

Ah price is over rated and from this article most people are in the same thought.

tfa wrote:

One easy explanation for Blu-Ray's rise is the included player inside of all Sony PlayStation 3 consoles. Millions of consoles have been sold and most include a voucher for money back on a Blu-Ray disc purchase.
2 Feb 2007 ~ 10:05pm Sledgehammer70

Sledgehammer70 wrote:

Ah price is over rated and from this article most people are in the same thought.

shwaip wrote:

I have yet to see one coupon or voucher....
2 Feb 2007 ~ 11:37pm shwaip You also haven't bought a PS3 (unless you found one since you couldn't before).
3 Feb 2007 ~ 12:47am RWB It upsets me that we get to choose which one we want(God knows I love freedom of choice, but this is not the same), only to have one of them go the way of beta cassette in 2 years. Money waisted. I know some of you probably would buy a new player in 2 years, but my VCR and TV and all lasted me SEVERAL YEARS before having to put out several hundred dollars towards new equipment. DVD hasn't been out for long, and is already being replaced? Are we going to have to buy the new super duper SHDTV's soon as well because a new technology came out? I mean this is bull****, I love that new technologies are coming, but some of us can't afford this. As you can tell by the credit usage of America and that most this country is in debt.
3 Feb 2007 ~ 12:55am shwaip Just because it's new, doesn't mean you have to buy it. DVDs are still being produced. They still look good through component on a non-hdtv (definitely not as good as hdtv with a hd signal).
3 Feb 2007 ~ 1:21am Sledgehammer70

shwaip wrote:

You also haven't bought a PS3 (unless you found one since you couldn't before).

I have had a PS3 since 2 days after launch....
3 Feb 2007 ~ 1:24am shwaip I thought that was your friend's...I wasn't sure who was keeping the PS3. I guess it's been at your house since then. Sorry.
3 Feb 2007 ~ 1:17pm Sledgehammer70 We actually have 3 systems in the house...