Over 100,000 standalone HD DVD players sold in North America

Sure, moving 100,000 units doesn't seem all that extraordinary when you consider that Microsoft managed to foist off 92,000 of its own add-ons last Christmas, but the number does manage to garner a bit more respect when you realize that the Xbox 360 addition nor HD DVD PC drives are included in it. The North American HD-DVD Promotional Group is now claiming that sales of set-top HD DVD players have finally hit the 100k mark, presumably ready to smack down that Blu-ray supremacy talk and prove that the recent surge in disc sales was more than a well-planned fluke. Of course, claiming the feat really says nothing in the grand scheme of the ongoing format war, but we can officially start the countdown until the Blu-ray camp proudly trounces these figures and yet again claims momentary dominance.

[Via TGDaily]

[Jesse S @ Apr 18th 2007 9:42AM]

Isn't bluray already surpassing this?

[sycks @ Apr 18th 2007 9:58AM]

Yes and no... These numbers do not account for the HD-DVD x360 add-on, so it can't be compared to the PS3 numbers. Its meant to compare stand-alone CE (retail) HiDef players to each other.

[kingofwale @ Apr 18th 2007 9:45AM]

200,000K HD-players vs 3.21 million PS3 + other Blu-Ray stand-alone player.

yeah, should we really celebrate 100K? That's like Microsoft celebrating 600K Zune sold.

[Billy Gun @ Apr 18th 2007 10:03AM]

Heah there is much more blue ray players out there, but almost no one of them care about playng movies, becouse HD DVD disk sales still are high.

The only reason Blue ray are selling more disk is becouse they have more studios suporting the format.

I personaly prefer HD DVD

http://www.eproductwars.com/dvd/

[flumpis @ Apr 18th 2007 10:13AM]

No, it has nothing to do with the fact that Blu-Ray discs are superior in nearly every way. That's probably why so many studios are behind it.

[Billy Gun @ Apr 18th 2007 10:05AM]

ops I mean blu ray

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Apr 18th 2007 10:08AM]

It's a good news.

Because the soap opera "Next Gen DVD" was becoming more and more unbalanced with all the Sony PR stunts.

As to myself, I will not buy into any new format until I see industry switching to 3.5" disks (or solid state). 5.25" is way too big (1) to fit most pockets and (2) takes too much space.

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Apr 18th 2007 10:17AM]

Except its price of course.

To me they are both the same: too expensive and thanks to upscaling HDMI-capable DVD players totally non-events.

[Billy Gun @ Apr 18th 2007 10:25AM]

As everyone says, HD DVD have an higher imege quality and more content on the disk

[Dave @ Apr 18th 2007 12:04PM]

Its exactly the opposite...

[bgdc @ Apr 18th 2007 10:25AM]

Gosh only couple million more and they'll pass blu-ray. lol

[fred @ Apr 18th 2007 10:46AM]

Hey uh, "well-planned fluke"? Does that even mean anything? Anyway, we all know that whatever the porn industry settles on is gonna be the standard.

[Tom @ Apr 18th 2007 10:47AM]

will this format war ever end? ugh!

[John @ Apr 18th 2007 10:50AM]

The question is then, how many standalone Blu-Ray units have been sold to date. I dont think it would be as many.

[Jon @ Apr 18th 2007 11:01AM]

At last count there were only 25,000 stand alone Blu-Ray Players sold. If it weren't for the PS3 Blu-Ray would be a collosal failure.

Sony presumed that bundling UMD with PSP would garner sales...they were wrong about that. Lets see what happens with Blu-Ray. It seems that now that the major surge of sales from Blockbuster release of Casino Royal is passed that Blu-Ray sales are greatly reducing while HD-DVD is keeping it's stride that it had all along.

[bluestate @ Apr 18th 2007 10:57AM]

on any given day you can go to circuit city or best buy and see salespeople having to describe the side-by-side differences to average folks. "no, no - see jim and arlene - check out the crispness of the grass on that 1080 set! no – you're too far away - get real close and check 'er out!" these little hd-dvd/blu-ray squabbles are moot - both formats have already lost the mom and dad technology test, and therefore the war.

[Vilppi @ Apr 18th 2007 11:18AM]

Jon: "HD-DVD is keeping it's stride that it had all along."

A few hundred fanboys on an internet forum does not a stride make. It does make baby Jesus cry though.

[welshys @ Apr 18th 2007 11:04AM]

Even if sales figures of stand-alone blu ray players were released it would'nt mean that much. I imagine quite a high amount of consumers who are mainly interested in watching blu ray movies (not playing ps3 games) would still buy a ps3 to do this because of the cost and added value

[Jon @ Apr 18th 2007 11:19AM]

Well if you look at the data:

HD-DVD Stand Alone sold: 100,000
Xbox 360 HD-DVD add ons sold: 125, 000

Blu-Ray Stand Alone Sold: 25,000
PS3's sold: 1.05 million

Since the 360 add on is not a forced choice...we know that HD-DVD has succeeded in selling 225,000 players that are intended solely for HD-DVD playback.

No one really knows how many PS3's have been sold for Blu-Ray playback or what percentage of them will be used to actually watch movies and drive Blu-Ray movie sales.

So truth be told...Sony has been caught in their own FUD. They are far from being able to claim a Blu-Ray victory. Sony would like us to think that the surge of sales from Console launch and the simultaneous release of a single Block Buster title (Casino Royal) are indicative of sustained growth for Blu-Ray sales. This is clearly not the case. The surge is over and Blu-Ray sales are settling back into a place that is less than what HD-DVD has been achieving.

[John @ Apr 18th 2007 11:37AM]

Jon,

Thanks for the numbers. Either side is going to claim they have the better product.

Their are two factors however with the PS3 that I see as the X factor.

How many people have an HDTV they are using it with? And how many people bought it to play Blu-Ray movies?

Their is nothing concrete out their that I have found about that. Because the people who are using a PS3 with out an HDTV, whats the point of them buying any Blu-Ray movies anyways.

[Darnell @ Apr 18th 2007 11:20AM]

Well I'm not buying a PS3 or 360 until this war is settled...and I have the money.

[Jon @ Apr 18th 2007 11:25AM]

Oh and did I mention that the cheapest Blu-Ray player (PS3) just got a defacto price increase of $100 and PS3 Sales are in decline? No one knows yet how that will effect the picture as this just happened...but I would guess that the extra $100 needed will only further move Blu-Ray out of the financial reach of most consumers.

[Chuckles McGee @ Apr 18th 2007 11:29AM]

Number of players sold could only be considered as an indictator of a formats health, it's not going to be a factor in customers' decisions, so long as there are titles on the shelf.

[andy @ Apr 18th 2007 12:36PM]

You make a good point about how many people are using PS3 for HD vs just for the new games.


HOWEVER, even if I was using it on an SD tv, I'd buy the blu ray discs for the future. They're releasing them at the same time, and given the choice, I'd future proof myself (at least when buying something I REALLY want like Casino Royale) by buying the new format at the same old price (as it was when released).

Just a thought, and I'd guess there are more than a few people out there who would take the same approach. You can downsample easily, but upsampling is a little less clear.

[bgdc @ Apr 18th 2007 12:08PM]

I saw a gen 2 HD-DVD player listed on Amazon for 309. Gotta admit, they almost got me with an impulse buy. If the PS3's price drops to $500, I'll be tempted too. I really, really want to watch high definition movies. Hell, Planet Earth in HD is breathtaking.

[LJKelley @ Apr 18th 2007 12:28PM]

Good News for HD DVD, though I will be more impressed when they sell 500,000.

I myself have choosen HD DVD, because of the $200 addon for the 360 and certain exclusives such as Brokeback Mountain. I figure that even if HD DVD were to exit tomorrow atleast I have the enjoyment of the movies I own and that does make it worth it.

Also there are several reports that HD DVD Movies sales are now higher than Blu-Ray. Amazon has more HD DVDs in the top 100 DVD rank then Blu-Ray and the HD DVDs rank higher.

[o0adam0o @ Apr 18th 2007 12:46PM]

Well theres alot of factors....dont forget to factor in the consumers who arent too savy...alot of the older and less techy crown will find the word "DVD" in "HD DVD" much more familiar and might feel more comfortable buying it.

Lets see...Blueray or High-Definition DVD

[eric @ Apr 18th 2007 12:52PM]

they have pc hd-dvd drives?

[sycks @ Apr 18th 2007 4:05PM]

Yes there are some mostly already in laptops or desktops, on the super-high end versions. There is always the X360 drive which works since its usb and only $200. The closet Blu-ray has to that is the recently announced Pioneer drive at $300.

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20070418PD202.html

[Denver_80203 @ Apr 18th 2007 1:19PM]

While I do view the occasional HD-DVD, I actually bought mine for better DVD playback. Built in DVD player on 360 skips too frequently, poor quality

'Since the 360 add on is not a forced choice...we know that HD-DVD has succeeded in selling 225,000 players that are intended solely for HD-DVD playback.'

[saboola @ Apr 18th 2007 2:04PM]

I was feeling bummed seeing Fifth Element in blu-ray at Circuit City the other day. It looked really good. I later went home and popped movie into my Xbox running XBMC at 1080i. You know what, honestly it almost looked as good. I don't feel so bad anymore. The transition from VHS to DVD had real obvious benefits, the change in quality was so apparent, and not only to people with special televisions. The blu-ray vs HD-DVD war is almost pointless.

[Tim @ Apr 18th 2007 3:18PM]

It will be really interesting to see the impact of the recent price drop for the Toshiba HD-A2. $300 + five free hd movies for an excellent upscaling dvd player may sway a few buyers. I just bought one and know several others who are considering the same. The early adopters aren't going to settle this war, it's going to be Joe/Joan Sixpack looking for something to watch on his/her new hdtv. Price could end up making all of the difference.

[Jitty @ Apr 18th 2007 8:07PM]

Where the hell are you guys getting this 25,000 stand alone blu-ray players sold figure? Seems very random...

[grod @ Apr 19th 2007 5:14PM]

I'm not 100% on this but didn't a bunch of porn companies jump on the HD bandwagon? Won't that make a big difference? Isn't that what some people attribute the success of VHS vs. Beta to?