Sony claims Blu-ray "winner" in format war

That's it folks, let's pack it up and go home: the format war is over. Or at least so says Sony, which is bragging about some solid numbers from the month January. Reportedly two Blu-ray Discs were sold for every one HD DVD last month, and while HD DVD standalone players still edge out Blu-ray by a slight margin, PS3 sales have given the Blu-ray camp a solid win for the month. Numbers are still hard to read, due to disparate launch titles and quantities for Blu-ray and HD DVD, but the 25 Blu-ray movies and 11 HD DVD movies give a good impression of the current trend. Reportedly HD DVD sales are growing, just not as fast and Blu-ray, and Sony seems to think they have it in the bag: "We have a critical mass of content, we have the biggest mass of consumer electronics companies in the world supporting this format. That has moved Blu-ray into the forefront." And despite the fact that Universal Studios is still holding out on putting its movie on Blu-ray -- the last of the studios to do so -- Sony would like to let consumers know it's alright to come out of hiding. "The message that we're going to put out to the consumer now is, now it is safe to make a choice. No more fence-sitting is needed." We can't blame Sony for trying to spin these numbers as a win, it's pretty clear that consumers are wary of committing to one format while another is still alive and kicking, but we're afraid this might be calling the game a tad prematurely.

[Via Engadget HD]

[SmilingAssassin @ Feb 13th 2007 10:03PM]

Somebody tell them I will personally NEVER own a BluRay player.

[Dave @ Feb 13th 2007 8:56PM]

Tactile media is dead.

[Shawn @ Feb 20th 2007 3:10PM]

I have not yet bought into either of these and have read extensively into which is 'better', but for Sony to say that just makes me want HD DVD to win. Anyone else feel the same way?

While a format war is the worse thing in the world for us consumers and helps no one in the end. It has to end NOW. We want our HD movies on our big screens ... especially now that I will be going onto my second TV (for another room)

[kynetx @ Feb 14th 2007 8:44AM]

Reading Sony declaring a victory in a format war may be the funniest thing I've read today.

[FreeRange @ Feb 13th 2007 9:00PM]

I swear I've seen way too many "buy one, get one free" deals on the Blu-ray movies to think believe they aren't selling the same amount and claiming two times the sales because they gave the rest away. And they aren't even good movies but if you're going to buy Crank why wouldn't you take your free copy of Ultraviolet? Apart they are $25 but when you do the math they were each only $12.50 so that's not a bad deal for a Blu-ray movie, is it? Technically, has Sony just sold two movies? No, but I bet that's not how they count `em.

[Eddie @ Feb 14th 2007 1:17AM]

I agree.

[JV @ Feb 13th 2007 9:02PM]

Betamax also outsold VHS in the first few years. I'll hang out here on the fence, thanks.

[Someone @ Feb 13th 2007 9:57PM]

Let's not forget, VHS had more industry support. Blu-Ray currently has more industry support than HD-DVD, and with Blu-Ray's stronger sales HD-DVD's support is bound to get weaker.

[Steven @ Feb 13th 2007 9:07PM]

The reason why blu ray is "winning" (and I use that term lightly) is because that's all that anyone is promoting. When was the last time you were able to even find the HD-DVD titles or players? I went to 4 stores before I found one.

[Mike @ Feb 13th 2007 10:21PM]

I shop at Best Buy and Circuit City. I have been to a BUNCH of different stores in the metro-Atlanta area and every Best Buy is equally stocked in both formats.

One local Circuit City EXPANDED their HD DVD section by a factor of two, brining it in line with their Blu-ray selection.

Things may be different where you live... not everywhere.

[Kev50027 @ Feb 13th 2007 9:06PM]

This is BS. Engadget, the war IS over, there are FAR more Blu-Ray players out in the wild than HD-DVD players. There is no "spinning of numbers", the only spinning of anything is facts, on Engadget's part.

I swear, any time Sony says anything positive, Engadget calls them out on it. I'm sick of this!!

You can't argue with the numbers, Engadget, no matter how tight you hug your Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive.

[Memo @ Feb 14th 2007 1:00AM]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but the last format war between VHS and Beta was ultimately decided by the porn industry who went with VHS. And guess who the porn industry chose as their standard. Its most likely game over for Sony. Enjoy your PS3.

[humpty @ Feb 13th 2007 9:07PM]

The HDDVD section at my HMV is shrinking everytime i go there while the BD section expands; ditto for the future shop. Plus, the helpful folks there are pushing BD and dissing HDDVD all the time.

Its only a matter of time now... bye, bye HDDVD.

[Vimal @ Feb 13th 2007 9:08PM]

You know, every time Sony opens their mouth about how good or better their products are, thats when things start to go down hill for them! It is this high and mighty attitude that will be their downfall. I am surprised they haven't learned their lesson yet.

[Someone @ Feb 13th 2007 9:48PM]

If the trend of sales continue, it looks like Blu-Ray will become the winner. I haven't bought any next-gen format hardware so I don't have any stake in who wins, but the numbers don't lie and Blu-Ray is increasing the gap. I just hope this doesn't go to Sony's head, considering they took a big hit for incorporating it into the PS3.

[BigZ @ Feb 13th 2007 9:52PM]

The porn was the winning factor in formats for VHS. Almost every porn studio has picked HDDVD.

[Kyle @ Feb 13th 2007 9:23PM]

blu-ray ownes....
and if the war is over and blu-ray won, that means i made my perdiction right about 2007 :) yay

[Javaflash @ Feb 13th 2007 9:23PM]

These 2 groups will soon find out they both lost.

Cheap storage + fat bandwidth will make optical discs irrelevant.

[John Doe @ Feb 13th 2007 9:37PM]

Ad to that some nice tight DRM so I can't take my media over to a friends house to watch. Thanks but fuck digital downloads, at least the "legal" variant.

[ENGADGET88 @ Feb 14th 2007 10:07PM]

I totally agree with Vimal's comment.

[imaballa @ Feb 13th 2007 10:02PM]

FreeRange: Research firm's like NDP have said free Blue-Ray movies are not calculated into the total sales figures such as Talledaga Nights.
Duh of course nobody would count free movies as sold movies.

JV: Actually it would be more accurate to compare Blue-Ray to VHS(4 hours of VHS record time) and HD-DVD to BetaMax(1 hour of Beta record time). Why VHS won was because of the higher recording capacity. Get it? Blue-Ray higher capacity?

Humpty: Thats kick a$$ marketing strategy, 7 of the big studios supporting Blue-Ray, only 1 exclusive for HD-DVD. More backing more movies more selection!

Vimal: I have yet to see any other company "open their mouth" and say something bad about themselves.
Don't be a hater.

[Dave @ Feb 13th 2007 9:33PM]

Yes. The war is over--and the PS3 is the best console. Everybody just give up now. Accept mediocrity. Sony commands you.

[imaballa @ Feb 13th 2007 9:37PM]

FreeRange: Research firm's like NDP have said free Blue-Ray movies are not calculated into the total sales figures such as Talledaga Nights.
Duh of course nobody would count free movies as sold movies.

JV: Actually it would be more accurate to compare Blue-Ray to VHS(4 hours of VHS record time) and HD-DVD to BetaMax(1 hour of Beta record time). Why VHS won was because of the higher recording capacity. Get it? Blue-Ray higher capacity?

Humpty: Thats kick a$$ marketing strategy, 7 of the big studios supporting Blue-Ray, only 1 exclusive for HD-DVD. More backing more movies more selection!

Vimal: I have yet to see any other company "open their mouth" and say something bad about themselves.
Don't be a hater.

[Patrick @ Feb 13th 2007 9:55PM]

@imaballa

>> JV: Actually it would be more accurate to
>> compare Blue-Ray to VHS(4 hours of VHS record
>> time) and HD-DVD to BetaMax(1 hour of Beta
>> record time). Why VHS won was because of the
>> higher recording capacity. Get it? Blue-Ray
>> higher capacity?

Actually, it'd be more accurate to see who the pron industry is backing since THAT is what won the last format war. Currently the porn industry back HD DVD. See where this is going? kthnxbye.

-p-

[remymtn @ Feb 13th 2007 10:42PM]

So people who bought a HD DVD for their xbox 360 paid just as much for a ps3? I thought they said xbox 360 was cheaper? :)

[Rauthentic @ Feb 13th 2007 10:09PM]

Accept mediocrity ??? isnt Blu-ray superior to HD-DVD...???

[3rdsun @ Feb 13th 2007 10:34PM]

Why can't they all get along, why can't we have more than one disc format, isn't technology suppose to improve things, do we want a BD or HD DVD monopoly so there investors can screw us, why can't we have a multiformat player so the consumer can feel at ease (I know LG makes one), do these companies take us for fools? I'm tired of asking questions.

[Christian @ Feb 13th 2007 9:49PM]

Holo disc will take over all...
Reason why HD-DVD is lagging is because they're releasing so little amount of movies! Blu-ray just keeps popping one out in 4 or 5 movies at a time (maybe less sometimes).

[Someone @ Feb 13th 2007 10:46PM]

Let's see...HD-DVD's backing from most porn studios and Universal Studio's exclusive support vs. Sony Pictures, MGM, Disney and 20th Century Fox's exclusive support. I think I'll stick to Pirates of the Caribbean, Spider-man, and internet porn.

[yale @ Feb 13th 2007 10:44PM]

umm but the difference is that back when the VHS and Beta battle happened, there was no interenet so VHS and Beta were the only ways to watch porn, and VHS was cheaper. Now the internet is the main venue for distributing porn so they wont decide the outcome its the consumers taht will decide it

[Jeff @ Feb 13th 2007 9:55PM]

Wasn't this posted on Slashdot like two weeks ago?

[Mike @ Feb 13th 2007 9:59PM]

"You know, every time Sony opens their mouth about how good or better their products are, thats when things start to go down hill for them!"

Actually they open their mouths well after the poop hit the fan. Currently the PSP and PS3 are wildly successful. If Sony says it, it must be true. To be fair, I bought a PSP a few months ago...although I only bought it for homebrew capabilities. I already had to mod the d-pad because the thing has a definite design flaw that Sony refuses to address or even admit to.

[mean2u @ Feb 13th 2007 9:59PM]

Well I like Sony and all but it will be hilarious if they lose, so everyone should bookmark this article for future reference.

[DanMan @ Feb 13th 2007 10:03PM]

If HD-DVD is doing so badly why did the HD-DVD pre-order of The Departed reach #24 on Amazon's DVD sales ranking(as of 3 days ago). Its clear if more HD-DVD movies are released then they can compete, but sadly it's only a matter of time. I pray as a HD-DVD owner that they have dual disc or dual drives.

[imaballa @ Feb 13th 2007 10:10PM]

Bigz: I see your still hung up on old news, current analyst have refuted the "Porn won the VHS" argument. VHS won because Beta was not long enough to even record a football game. People want tapes they can pop in and start recording their favorite show without having to worry about time constraints, 1 hour is a very short time.
Plus, you over estimate porn. Porn sales via internet greatly overshadow than hardcopy orders.

This time around majority of movie studios are backing Blue-Ray this is going to be a key factor. When majority of the contents are on Blue-ray consumers will go with the format which they can buy their favorite movie.

[Mike @ Feb 13th 2007 10:21PM]

So, you're sitting here telling us that there are X number of players out there, yet provide ZERO statistics to back it up.

Don't post made up numbers either... we want hard core sales data.

You are writing a check your butt can't cash right now.

[Andrew Fong @ Feb 13th 2007 10:13PM]

But regular DVD continues to whoop both HD formats ... How long will it take for BD to pass up DVD? And by then, will BD already be obsolete?

[h0mi @ Feb 13th 2007 10:20PM]

Sales of BD and HD Dvd discs have yet to reach 1 million combined (this may change in the next week or so). These numbers are too small to be especially meaningful.

[imaballa @ Feb 13th 2007 10:20PM]

Andrew Fong: Thats a easy one to answer.
In a couple years by law all broadcast must be in Hi-Def. Already many consumers are purchasing Hi-Def TV in droves, in a few years it will only be inevitable that most TV consumers will have will be Hi-Def(also the price should drop accordingly).
With Hi-Def TV the demand for Hi-Def content will be inevitable. Hi-Def players should replace DVD.
Within the next few years you may find yourself at BestBuy buying a $60 Blu-Ray player. Thats what happened to DVD players.

[Patrick @ Feb 14th 2007 7:52AM]

Cite please? Currently AFAIK, all boradcasts will have to be DIGITAL but that is not the same as hi-def. If you know otherwise, give me a link.

And no, 480p is not hi-def.

-p-

[Mike @ Feb 13th 2007 10:46PM]

Ok people... HOW ON EARTH can you claim a winner or "stronger sales" based on ONE MONTH OF DATA?

During that month, Best Buy had a Buy One Get One Free deal. Gee... I WONDER what that will do for their "sales" numbers?

Let's pull out collective heads out of our asses and see this for what it is: one month of sales data being used as part of a PR campaign to convince consumers to choose Blu-ray.

I own both formats, so before you go screaming "troll", check yourself. This war is FAR from over, especially when you consider that LG just released the first dual format player. Also CONSIDER the fact that the HD DVD camp has a TON of Asian manufacturers lined up to crank out affordably priced HD DVD players.

What happens when the market is flooded with sub $500 HD DVD players while the Blu-ray camp struggles to break the $800 mark? (save for the PS3 and Samsung BD-P1000, the former being sold at a loss and the latter about to be discontinued)

Blu-ray backers will have to lower prices to compete, else they risk being blown out of the water when consumers choose the less expensive hardware. Regardless, this war will get much nastier before a winner is declared. It's entirely possible that we have two formats just like we do with DVD+R and DVD-R. The two are so similar that you can't go wrong with either one.

[Yubal @ Feb 13th 2007 10:26PM]

If I had a PS3 I would buy blu-ray movies, as well as a blu-ray burner, and burnable blu-ray meida. The same can be said if I had a xBox 360 with HDDVD drive. Now that both are hacked, let it be for us, and bring the one with the most capacity!

[lynx.me @ Feb 13th 2007 10:36PM]

If you're able to really determine the success of the format this early into the race, well why not take a gander at Sony's PS3 Sales compared to any of the other nextgen video game systems out on the market.
If they were to gauge things that way no one would possibly see a future for the PS3 but we all know that down the line the early figures dont mean squat. Cocky bastards. Victory cant be declared so early in the fight.

[Falcom @ Feb 13th 2007 10:35PM]

I really dont care. DVD with an upconvert player is fine for me. I'd rather have HD On-Demand cable anyway. I've considered getting a HDDVD player for my xbox, and $ for $ its the best deal i have right now, but really, it just isn't worth it.

[Sanjin @ Feb 13th 2007 10:37PM]

Purely from the consumer's point of view, wouldn't you want the better one to stay. Better resolution, more space...

[Martin @ Feb 13th 2007 10:43PM]

Purely from a consumer point of view wouldn't you want a company that doesn't screw over it's customers (SONY) to NOT win

[PSPRulz @ Feb 13th 2007 10:46PM]

I remember a number of news articles about the strong sales of UMD movies when the PSP was released. http://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/5002/umd.html

The strong Blu Ray sales are probably a result of many PS3 owners purchasing at least one movie. Just like PSP owners did with UMDs...I don't think anyone would consider the UMD format a winner.

[Bootes @ Feb 14th 2007 2:22AM]

Blu-Ray won a long time ago. Not only is Blu-Ray better because it can hold more, but every PS3 includes it. There are many more people willing to spend hundreds of dollars for a console than for what is basically a DVD player.

I would never spend hundreds of dollars to just to be able to see the button on a guys shirt better. Yes I love HD, but nott enough to pay 10 times as much for a player and 2 times as much for each movie.

[k0a10 @ Feb 13th 2007 10:57PM]

A "just the facts" without trying to be hip, and without bling/military/human interest fluff would suit me fine. Ther's really enough happening as it is. Oh, and to Engadget, if you don't know what you're talking about, which happens all too often, don't open your mouth, just the facts _please_.

Thanks for the tip, I will check these sites.

Psst, some innovative features, like things I've seen on sites 10 years ago would be nice. Look at a site like storagereview.com, they collect discreet values over time so you can compare and profile things. You can then do things like _intelligently compare_, as well as features like "automatically notify me when a gsm mobile with gps, wifi, usb host, at least 320x200 touchscreen and weighs not more than 120g becomes available," as well as forming interest groups. Smart, useful. Not smart-assed, not trying to stir up controversy that wastes my time.

[k0a10 @ Feb 13th 2007 11:13PM]

And another thing..

I am #)$(*#()$* glad when one company copies another company's good feature. It can go too far and innovation can be stifled, but everyone copies everyone and there is so much ground to be covered before the gadgets we waste our time on are even half decent, it is stupid to not just accept that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and move on to seeing what is unique - like a lower price point, different market, etc.

To competition.