When competing high-definition disc format HD DVD threw in the towel in early 2008, most industry watchers were expecting a surge of consumer interest in Sony’s victorious Blu-ray format. Now that the battle was over, market watchers reasoned, consumers would flock to the high-definition world, assured that their movie purchases would be compatible with future gear for a long time to come.
Except it hasn’t happened, at least not to the degree industry watchers expected. Several factors play into consumer’s less-than-enthusiastic embrace of Blu-ray, including a general economic downturn, Blu-ray gear hanging on to comparatively high prices, and consumers turning to alternative sources of HD content like high-definition cable, satellite, and download services. Also factor in increasing quality (and affordability) of upscaling DVD players, and many consumers just don’t feel the urge to dive into Blu-ray.
Now, new numbers from market-watcher Nielsen VideoScan finds that Blu-ray’s share of the video disc market actually dropped during the week ending September 14, declining to an even 8 percent of the overall market. (Yes, the rest of the market is standard DVDs.) The drop represents a proportionate 13.4 decline over Blu-ray’s showing the previous week.
Earlier this year, Sony executives predicted Blu-ray sales would account for as much as 50 percent of the home video disc market by the end of 2008. However, now industry experts believe Blu-ray won’t have much of an impact on the overall market during 2008, barring extraordinary price cuts and consumer interest during the upcoming holiday season.
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