Blu-ray players grab 93 percent of market after Warner went Blu

According to the latest NPD group report, during the month of December Blu-ray players held 60 percent of the HD media player market -- despite the fact that HD DVD players were considerably cheaper. While that might've helped Warner in its decision to go Blu, the move has definitely had a dramatic effect on player sales since. According to the same study the week after the announcement, Blu-ray players were able to grab 93 percent of the market, which puts the year to date (short, we know) share for Blu-ray players at 70 percent. Granted, it's hard to put too much stock in just a week or two of data, but if this and the recent media sales numbers (85 percent) becomes a trend, maybe this won't be such a slow death for HD DVD after all.

[Via Blu-ray.com]

[WickyWoo @ Jan 23rd 2008 1:22PM]

"Sinai, that's why I was hoping HD-DVD would win. It wasn't created by a company that also has its own movie studio."

Totally wrong. Toshiba up until less than a year ago when they sold it DID own their own movie studio in Japan. They distributed US films like Riddick, Band of Brothers, Equilibrium and more.

And Microsoft is looking to buy Universal from GE as we speak.

[WickyWoo @ Jan 23rd 2008 1:22PM]

And for those on the "cheap" train, Toshiba is selling HD DVD players at a $100+ loss, which at a nickle a disc (and that's being incredibly generous) worth of royalties will require over 2000 HD DVDs sold, MINIMUM to make back that investment. Keep in mind, they've taken this hit on EVERY player they've sold since the beginning (Their loss has been as high as $200 a player).

Playstation, before anyone brings it up, makes $8-10 a game in royalties, requiring a far more realistic return rate.

Meanwhile, Blu-ray decks are higher, or in actuallity, realistically priced. The retailer makes a profit, the manufacturer makes a profit. HD DVD player margins per dollar are less than half of what the retailers make on Blu.

"If these numbers are based on PS3's, how many kids will purchase a blueray movie versus a game"

PS3, nor the 360 addon are included in these figures.

And anyone who thinks that the CEs aren't racing for that magic $199 mark as fast as is practical is insane. They want fast, mass market adoption because they make at best $5 a DVD player, and the studios want it because they want a format whose copy protection isn't cracked wide open. Both sides like Disney (huge investment in Blu promotion in advertising), Fox (spent tens of millions financing the creation of BD+), Panasonic (owns more Blu-ray patents than anyone, including Sony), and the retailers (because they'll move a ton more players). More players=more discs sold= lower software prices.

[BuzzillionsEmma @ Jan 23rd 2008 2:02PM]

The Blu-Ray has been getting both positive and negative reviews, people who have purchased say that while the quality of picture is great and is easy to set up and use, the cons are that it’s slow to power up and there’s no memory. Here are reviews left by people who are verified to have purchased it:

http://www.buzzillions.com/prd-260217-sony-blu-ray-disc-player-reviews/

One guy said “Great design gives it a sleek look. When turning it on, it takes longer than a minute for the tray to open up. I have heard this before so it may be common for these types of DVDs. With the HDMI connection, the picture is very sharp! I definitely noticed a difference in DVDs to HD Blue Rays.
Disadvantage on all HDMI connection is that you don’t get closed captions signal through it. If the DVD doesn’t have subtitles, then you need to use a different connection and the quality reduces, big time.
The manual section on hook-up is confusing a little on the variety of choices. HDMI is too simple and yet the manual shows to many wires with options that won’t make sense to some users. You need to figure out the settings if you want PCM audio, mix-down, etc. You need to know which quality is better.
First couple of days on using it, it locked up once watching a movie. I had to unplugged it from the back to restart it. It could be a dirty DVD but it hasn’t happened again.
My biggest peeve is when you turn off the DVD and want to continue watching where you left off next time, you at the beginning of the DVD again.
Not so sure about improvement on audio quality because I can’t imagine audio sounding better than regular DVDs.”

[zwhale @ Jan 23rd 2008 6:00PM]

First off I don't have a personal preference regarding blue ray or HD DVD.

Now that being said BuzzillionsEmma tell that guy to buy a better blue ray than the cheapest one available because all the things he was complaining about are the player’s quality than it is the format.

Looking at some stats and seeing that 40% or more of the nation still don't own a HD TV so close to the dead line of 2009 I am sure the battle will not be over until the rest of the wall mart nation goes shopping for the new HDTV and find out that HDTV is so much cheaper.

Having over 7 years in the High end Audio and Video retail experience tells me that so far we are just comparing stats of the first phase buyers or the so called (early adopters) just like the guys that spent over 2k on Mitsubishi VHS players back in 1980.

[Jack @ Jan 28th 2008 1:13AM]

Who cares, in a couple years we will all be downloading movies to our TIVO/DVR or external Hard-drive hooked up to our TV. DVD, HD or Blue-Ray will go the way of the CD-ROM.

[Steve @ Jan 26th 2008 3:38AM]

This is the part that the news media keeps forgetting to report. Between Universals and Paramounts Catalouge of total movies (were talking the movie theater 35mm's here), they own 46% of the possible available titles out there. Yes, BR has the majority of studio's, but when you look at the movies they've put out total over the years, 54%vs46% evens out the race a little. And it becomes a little more interesting when you factor in the fact that, although some studios in the North American market are BR exclusive, by doing a simple google search, you can get those same studio movies in HDDVD from the European market (HDDVD being region free). I used this information and the fact that the player was only $140 with 7 free movies (Amazon) to buy the HDdvd player this week. Let use suppose that 6 months to a year from now, Toshiba decides to fold it in, The movies I've got are still good, and I'm only out $140. Until October of this year, anyone buying a BR player will not have the latest hardware version and will be getting screwed by Sony (won't run the new features coming out - this is NOT a firmware upgradable issue as stated by Sony last week). When the final spec comes out in Oct, then I will look into a BR player (and only if the price comes way down from it's current high point).

[Art Hagen @ Jan 27th 2008 5:37PM]

Can someone tell me why none of the blue ray players get a good review. They all seem to be junk. The hd dvd players were better, and even a finished product. I have not bought either.

[Bobs @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:05PM]

Many have died, but the war is not over.

[SimbaDogg @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:12PM]

seriously? really? like, you're really being serious? ok...

[alexmueller @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:12PM]

its over

[HedonismBot @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:18PM]

If the war's not done yet, at least the major combat operations are certainly over.

Now there's just the insurgency to deal with...

[Bobs @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:25PM]

This is a survey of all NPD panelests, well, not all, but a lot. if this was a combined survey, with people like walmart reporting sales, then yeah, we could get a better, more reliable result, kinda. untill HD DVD gets droped by all major studios, its not over. not like i really care, ive still got trusty DVD as my format of choice, my games still fit on one DVD, or most of them do.

[paragraph @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:27PM]

I'm not a fanboy at all, of anything, but come on, cut him some slack...

HD still has a chance... they have cheaper players... so what if they don't have any content :-P

[Chebwa @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:28PM]

LOL!

[Luke @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:32PM]

Almost ironic.... PS3 - more expensive - no games... 360 - not as expensive - tons of games... blu-ray - more expensive - lots of content... HD-dvd - not as expensive - no content...

At least Sony got one thing right I suppose.

[JP23 @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:47PM]

The surge it be working

[Zach @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:54PM]

@ Luke

because the add-on is 179 (or was? whats it at now if i'm wrong)
i own an xbox 360 and had to send it in when it RROD'ed on me at least a year and a half ago but am content with it
at this point, we're (my family) looking into buying an hdtv and my father wants to get the add-on and a blu ray player, which i refuse to do, since my zune shitted out..my vista laptop had to get sent back for vista problems.. and yeah.
so i for one (haha you thought i was gonna say THAT didn't you!) will be getting a blu ray player before the superbowl, since the giants are in :)

[Flashpoint @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:54PM]

HDDVD was a failure before the first disks were ever released on store shelves. Blu Ray was destined to succeed based on the market penetration of the PS3 and the failure of Microsoft to put an HDDVD player as a standard drive on the 360.

If you don't support something, it topples.

HDDVD is a perfect example of a failure of good reason.

[StrangeBum @ Jan 22nd 2008 2:05PM]

@ Zach

Excellant way to throw in Microsofts other expedentures (failures? yes and no) into a mix about Blu-ray v HD-DVD. Sure the PS3 and 360 compete in that regard. But Vista? The Zune? Really? When was the last time Sony really had a viable media player? Walkman's are dead man. The Zune has Sony beat in that regard, it's a great device.

And Vista...haha. Sure it's not the best, but it adds zero value to your argument. Microsoft didn't create the HD-DVD format, they just back it. And yet, you can still use Blu-ray optical drives on your...gasp...Vista computer.

Here's my thoughts - HDDVD v Blu-ray is still up in the air to me, I need an absolute clear winner before I make a commitment. That's where I stand. DVD is still the most viable format available.

[Rob @ Jan 22nd 2008 2:10PM]

Hey Bobs,

You're not by any chance getting your information from the Iraqi Information Ministry, are ya? I would change channels if I were you.

[Ethan @ Jan 22nd 2008 2:13PM]

I supported HD-DVD, I prefer HD-DVD, but It's over. It's more likely that the survey has a 7% inaccuracy.

[Zach @ Jan 22nd 2008 2:21PM]

@ strangebum

right, MICROSOFT backs it, and in MY experience, all i've had were problems (minus xp)
it took 4 months to get my xbox back after sending it in, and imagine you having to send your hd dvd player (which could potentially be made by microsoft) in to get fixed if it dies for any reason?
i love the xbox for its games, but i don't think a video games console will ever replace the dvd/hd dvd/blu ray player for the reasons above

[Alan Strangis @ Jan 22nd 2008 2:21PM]

@ Flashpoint: IMHO, it was a straight up poker game. The main reason for HD-DVD's failure is the recent $750 Million outlay by Sony to secure Fox and Warner. Blu-Ray saw this with the $100 million or so that HD spent on Paramount, and check raised way over the top.

The gamble looks like it paid off. Neither sides numbers are in the least bit impressive when compared to the DVD version sales, so from the studio perspective, the guy with the biggest bag o cash is gonna win. NO other combination of factors trumps $500 million dollars up front, despite what fanboys (not accusing you) on either side of the format fence say.

Gaming and storage capacity were negligible factors, given that game studios easily released major game content on both DVD9 (for the 360) and Blu-Ray (PS3), and they're identical experiences.

[JD @ Jan 22nd 2008 3:16PM]

Zach, Microsoft won't enter the consumer HDDVD player market unless it's in a 360. Don't forget, sony has had their own fair share of completely irrelevant problems. Like Laptop batteries with explosion syndrome and CDs that install rootkits totally silently, and then the program to "fix" the problem is broken. Your arguments are completely irrelevant. Don't forget that Bluray has constantly shifting standards, an area where sony has not had much success since CD. Blu 2 is out this fall, and those discs won't play on blu 1.2 because they have radically different specs. The only upgradable player is the PS3. That's just a confusing mess for consumers. The fight is still likely over, but I don't think either one is clearly better than the other for various reasons.

[ScareyJ @ Jan 22nd 2008 3:27PM]

Alan is right ... its the cash, not the technology or game consoles ... its the money. I consider it a sellout on the studios part, since they sold out the consumers choice. Now the consumer gets to pay for it over a long period of time.

Sony can't slash prices on the player like Toshiba has ... this why we're seeing the "free player" deals when you buy a TV instead of a real price war. You can cut prices but you can't raise them ... and free/rebate deals allow them to entice people without lowering that price bar. They have A LOT of money to make up in sales because of the studio deals. Expect to see protracted disc and player cost for awhile.

I'm even more likely now to become a download fanboy because of this war.

[Ben Belden @ Jan 22nd 2008 6:43PM]

@Zach

I'm a little confused by the ending of your first post.

"so i for one (haha you thought i was gonna say THAT didn't you!) will be getting a blu ray player before the superbowl, since the giants are in :)"

What exactly does a Blu-ray player have to do with the Super Bowl and the Giants? If you have an HDTV you have an HDTV and you can watch the Super Bowl on it. You don't need a Blu-ray player in any way whatsoever.

[ark_v2 @ Jan 22nd 2008 4:19PM]

As I said when Warner announced it: "FATALITY!"

[jivetrky @ Jan 22nd 2008 4:39PM]

Why would we want this war to continue. Everyone I know says they are not buying into HD movies just because we don't know which way to go. I honestly could care less if it's HD or BR, just as long as one goes away and the other catches on and gets cheaper.

On a sales note, I work at a porn store and we have HDDVD titles and Bluray titles. The shelf is full of HDDVD titles because the BR titles sell out as soon as they get put out. The HD titles, however, just sit there. In my experience, BluRay seems much more popular even though it can be more expensive right now compared to HDDVD.

If I had to choose, I'd say Bluray is the way to go.
We have some titles that are available in both and the Bluray titles have more features and extras because they can fit more on the disks. Take for instance the Title "Debbie Does Dallas...Again" by Vivid. It's available on both formats and looks identical in every way until you look at the extra features listing. The BR copy has multi camera angle selection available whereas the HD does not. This is simply because the BR has the extra space for the extra content, the HD does not.

[kelly bell @ Jan 22nd 2008 4:43PM]

Bob's, come on dude...it's over homey. Just let it go. The limbs have been chopped! Come back and fight you coward!!!

[hercules71185 @ Jan 22nd 2008 11:16PM]

sorry bro. This war is over...
I hope at least Hd DVD gets a proper funeral. They deserve it. I've had many great nights due to the HD-DVDs.

[bush @ Jan 23rd 2008 6:11AM]

nothing's over 'till it's over.

[Panathas17 @ Jan 23rd 2008 11:19AM]

another reason HD DVD was a failure was because it was made by microsoft... ok u can't blame an apple/sony fan for misusing his fanboyism.... can u?

[ZippO @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:12PM]

the end is inevitable... argh~

[Chrism_42484 @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:13PM]

I knew blu would win, even tho its not over yet, it will be soon. Who ever thought that a 15gb disk could beat a 25gb disk is mistaken, blu-rays technology is far superior than hd disk. More space on a single disk is gonna open us up to bigger and better applications/ movies/ games. Stop buying the new generation beta max, BRING ME TRANSFORMERS and SHREK TO BLU-RAY!!

[insertAlias @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:17PM]

While you happened to be correct this time, if you go back through consumer technology history, you will find that the most powerful format often lost. So, whoever thought that a 15GB disk would beat a 25GB disk was basing their presumptions on history, not necessarily fanboyism.

[ChillyWilly @ Jan 22nd 2008 2:32PM]

Hoping this will be a call to Toshiba to finally join in the ranks, which will get the HD DVD exclusive titles over to Blu-Ray.

[Jeff @ Jan 22nd 2008 3:30PM]

Seriously, it's going to be funny seeing the heads spin around here when Toshiba announces their first BD player. It'll happen, oh you know it will, and it'll be quick. Probably the same day they drop support for HD-DVD.

Companies have no loyalty except to the bottom line. And at some point, Toshiba's going to realize that the only way for them to make money from high definition optical discs is by producing Blu-Ray players.

Only the rabid fanboys on sites like this have loyalty to one format or another.

[Andy @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:14PM]

Please, Toshiba! Give up, announce that you are pulling the plug. (I need to get my copy of Transformers HD-DVD on ebay tonight...)

[Neeko @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:36PM]

Seriously once this is over iam buying a ton oh HDDVD movies on the cheap.. i want like $10 for a movie cmon hurryup and discount these movies.

Now this is were the consumer gets a deal.

[Nipponese @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:58PM]

@Neeko

Nothing like owning a bunch of movies on betamax.

[StrangeBum @ Jan 22nd 2008 2:10PM]

@ Nipponese

Does it really matter? Do you mean to tell me that you honestly plan on repurchasing every DVD in your library to upgrade it to Blu-Ray? I doubt it, you will probably still use your DVD player until Blu-Ray has been in the game for at least a few years.

So if Neeko decides to purchase a bunch of movies on the losing format, the quality is still there, and if he owns an HD-DVD player, why not utilize it until the library of the winner fully encompases all other formats.

[ericisshort @ Jan 22nd 2008 3:47PM]

I still have my collection of criterion collection laser disks.

[Curtis @ Jan 22nd 2008 3:49PM]

@StrangeBum

Your point is completely irrelevant. Of course he will still watch his DVD's because they will play on his blu-ray player! Where is he going to watch his HDDVDs though? My guess is everyones HDDVD players will end up in either their attic or guest room just like their betamax players did.

[DarkLightConnection @ Jan 22nd 2008 7:03PM]

Or, you know, if you have the money, you can buy both players.. when you get tired of watching the same movies over and over on the looser format, you disassemble the player and make yourself a nice blue laser :-)

These blue pointers sell for about $1000 anyway

[Jacob @ Jan 22nd 2008 11:40PM]

I have a Sony VHS player.

There's no reason that we won't see a Toshiba Blu-ray player.

[rhogan @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:15PM]

Interesting, but not necessarily accurate, NPD data does not include Wal-Mart ( a big HDDVD retailer) or online sources like amazon.

A toshiba HDDVD player remains in the top 25 on amazons best sellers today, while the first blu ray player comes in at 96.

/just sayin...still think blu-ray will win.

[Tony C @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:28PM]

Neither do most of the analysts include PS3 sales which number a measly 3.2 million in the US alone, 2.5 million of which were sold in 2007. 5.6 million worldwide as of Sept 2007, should easily be over 6 million by now...

[Carbonize @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:32PM]

That would be because a large percentage of PS3 sales are not to people who want to watch Blu Ray movies. If the PS3 was JUST a blu ray player then it could be counted but as it is mainly a games console and media center you cannot count it towards Blu Ray player sales.


Fanbois suck.

[rutsy5 @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:50PM]

I dunno carbonize, for one, I don't think PS3 owners are going to spring for an HDDVD player, unless they're absolutely ballin', so that should be counted in the run. Lots of people use its Blu-Ray compatibility as another reason to purchase, and then go for only Blu-Ray discs.
For an extremely long time, my PS2 was the only DVD player of the household

that said, the numbers ignore too much data to really count for much.

[Tony C @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:50PM]

Sorry Carbonize, but I have an Xbox 360 with an HD-DVD drive too. The HD-DVD addon isn't counted by analysts in player sales either.

Fanboi my ass.