Blu-ray celebrates 91 percent sales increase for first half of 2009

Remember back in May when Blu-ray sales were reportedly up 72 percent for 2009? Turns out the high definition disc business is doing even better than that. The Digital Entertainment Group is reporting a 91 percent sales increase year-on-year, totaling $407 million, for the first six months of this year -- an impressive feat, especially in this recession climate. Blu-ray rentals, too, saw a 61 percent increase, and on the less tangible side of things, digital distribution rose 21 percent. Despite all this, the report noted that overall consumer spending on prerecorded entertainment dropped 3.1 percent, and net profit down 2.2 percent... come on UMD, pick up the slack.

[custmmade Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:00PM]

blu ray is the real deal!!!!

[LucasHenderson Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:40PM]

Not until I can watch it on Linux.

[put4558350 Posted Jul 16th 2009 7:01PM]

Still. It is $407 million VS $968.

[rento Posted Jul 16th 2009 7:01PM]

@ Ignofibininious

Is there really nothing better than watch a Blue-Ray movie off an Epia with a 4:3 17 inch screen?
On a good note, 2010 will be the year of Blue-Ray on Linux!!

[LucasHenderson Posted Jul 16th 2009 7:38PM]

@rento
I have a 27" monitor on my main desktop, I have a MythBox in my living room.

[xValentine Posted Jul 16th 2009 8:55PM]

@Rento

It's Blu-Ray, not blue-ray

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 16th 2009 10:32PM]

@xValentine

No, it's Blu-ray.

[xValentine Posted Jul 16th 2009 11:36PM]

yes it's Blu-ray

[LondonConsultant Posted Jul 17th 2009 3:48AM]

No, it's Blu-ray Disc.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 17th 2009 7:42AM]

Be sure to pronounce the "Blu" as bloo, not bl-ee-yoo.

[Bud92 Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:00PM]

Sony= Win
PS3 purchase = Win
I love making smart decisions.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:46PM]

I don't understand how everyone gets mad when people talk about how bad monopolies are but when there is only 1 option for an HD1080P player they rejoice about the minimal success of said product!

Don't get me wrong Blueray tech is cool BUT it's expensive compared to previous products that offered competitive features! I mean seriously the only way to get a HD Movie is either stream it at 1080i OR buy a Blueray player for $400 and $30 per movie! and good luck finding a blueray bargain bin at Walmart...

[TPJ Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:53PM]

murmermer - It doesn't look like you peruse the Blu-ray offerings (hardware & software) very often. There are extremely capable players available for under $200 these days - and I *never* pay more than $20 for any single Blu-ray title. Many times I'm only spending about $15.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 16th 2009 7:39PM]

... You don't find New releases for under $30! You will never be able to run to Walmart and buy a $40 blueray player like you can with DVD

[Tsing Tao Posted Jul 16th 2009 8:14PM]

@murmuere Aside from the simple fact that nothing you said has been true for months, there was a time when DVD players were 500 bucks, And DVD's were 40 bucks. In comparison Blu-ray has been a bargain from the beginning. As for new releases you can go to best buy and get BRAND new releases for 22-25 bucks every day.

[jon Posted Jul 16th 2009 8:37PM]

@Tsing

The average price of a DVD has never been $40, unlike Blu-Ray discs. I did, however, pay nearly $900 for my first DVD player.

That being said I've never paid more than $25 for a Blu-Ray, and I've gotten several for between $10-$20.

Hell, Watchmen is available day 1 for $17.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 16th 2009 8:58PM]

bought my blu-ray drive for 79 to throw into my cheap media pc. consitantly buying $9 blu-rays at frys every friday when the ad comes out.

[PDoc Posted Jul 17th 2009 7:03PM]

Feeling both old and a bit stupid here, but my first DVD player was a Sony... a DVP-S330 perhaps... and it cost £680 - $1,107.88. The first few discs were about $35ish, and most had to be turned-over half-way through the film. Sometimes half-way through a scene... I'd never have believe that a £30 player with £3 disc would ever happen
Blu-Ray via a PS3 has been a joy so far, even if I'm stuck at 780p. Damned early-adoption again. A $2,440 LCD this time...

[custmmade Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:00PM]

lol. me 2. i love my ps3!!!

[SOOPERGOOMAN Posted Jul 16th 2009 8:47PM]

I adore my PS3 as well. Best Thing I've bought in a long time. Can't beat Free Online Gaming.

[A1 Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:08PM]

Palm d'or? NICE. :D Well done BD.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:04PM]

ok Engadget we know umd failed now please stop being childish about it.

[Extinction Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:45PM]

Agreed completely

[seanGadget Posted Jul 17th 2009 1:38AM]

I agree too. Everytime they praise sony, they bring them right down. Just like when psp sold 50,000 they had to bring up that DS is still kicking its ass.

[xirsteon Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:03PM]

who are these consumers who continue 2 shell out $$ on these super expensive discs and players?

I'll continue with my 480p videos that i have often stumble upon on the randomly hidden closets of the tubes... :-)

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:19PM]

You still watch porn in 480p?

[kalleboo Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:21PM]

480p looks like crap on a decently-sized screen. I've only had a Blu-ray player (PS3) for a week now and I've already bought a TON of discs. Lovin' the 1080p.

[Twanzio Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:23PM]

Really? You're missing out but you're definitely entitled to stay in the tube closet, fapping to lo-def. It's a free country.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:24PM]

My thoughts exactly; 480p is not enough. Personally I prefer 720p, but then again my 19" LCD is 1280x1024...

[TurboTalon Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:35PM]

People who think they are saving a ton of money by staying home and shopping on Amazon. We may be in a recession but usually entertainment still does pretty well. Helps to take peoples minds off stuff.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:40PM]

Amazon is a hidden closet? Put up a RAID in NAS, stream the hell out of your movie collection. You save much in the long run. A blu-ray disc costs too much.

[KillaChaos Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:58PM]

Not all porn is good in glorious 1080p...

[jon Posted Jul 16th 2009 8:40PM]

@Killa

Ain't that the truth. Some things you can't unsee.

[xValentine Posted Jul 16th 2009 9:05PM]

If you can't move on or buy the latest, don't expect everyone will won't, can't too.

[thebadmintonking Posted Jul 17th 2009 2:39PM]

Agreed.

I could care less about 1080p... There's only one movie that I want to watch in HD (Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), and that's not enough to convince me to lay down $400 for a decent player, and then $30 thereafter for discs.

Though, I guess 90% of the world population is stupefyingly drunk with technology to the point that they're incapable of resisting anything that looks shiny and new...

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:04PM]

Waiting for the PS3 Slim to be officially announced and priced (at $299 I hope) and I'm sold!

[ynp Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:13PM]

Sony = Win
PS3 purchase = Win
Apple Support for Blu-Ray = W... er... never mind.

[droberts Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:32PM]

Haha. What a bag of hurt. Steve Jobs sucks!

[letstakeawalk Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:33PM]

"Bag of hurt" is the phrase you are looking for, I believe.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 17th 2009 1:56AM]

This reminds me. I was at a wedding on the weekend where a friend was taking footage with some new Sony AVCHD camcorder. I was asking him about it, and he said that after he figured out how to get the files to play nice with his MacBook Pro it worked beautifully except for mastering the finished product. Why? No built-in Blu-ray burner.

So I thought how can Apple, with all of the video editors out there that rely on Macs, offer a $2500 computer without Blu-ray, when Dell, HP and Sony can offer notebooks with Blu-ray burners for under $1500. Didn't Steve say that Blu-ray was too expensive, in addition to being a bag of something? Pure BS. Too bad too, since Mac users would probably get a great deal of use out of the ability to play and record BDs.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:08PM]

Xbox 360 purchase = Win
Free Samsung Blu-ray player with HDTV purchased = Win

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:30PM]

Sorry a Xbotch is not a win, unless Microsoft have brainwashed you into believing it. It's chock full of unreliable last-gen tech and the games pretty much suck most of the time. Most Xbots don't even know what the PS3 offers and don't even know what games it has.

[ZZMitch Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:21PM]

Actually people choose the Xbox 360 because in their opinion (and in my opinion) it is the better system with a better quality of games.

[zargon Posted Jul 16th 2009 8:18PM]

@trew Speaking of being brainwashed...

[WickedEast Posted Jul 16th 2009 11:50PM]

What are those "better games" on the Xbox360 I keep hearing about???

[jerbear Posted Jul 17th 2009 9:58AM]

I don't own either but when I bought my HDTV 4th of July weekend I had the option of a larger screen or a smaller screen with a PS3 thrown in. I considered the PS3 because, hey, free game system and bluray player but then I looked down the aisle of games at Best Buy and they were all either uninteresting or I already played them last year on my gaming PC. Yeah LBP looked cool and came with the deal. Rock Band is fun but that means I would have to go buy that kit too...

I dunno. Seems like X360 has a much better library despite maybe not being as capable on paper.

I ended up getting the bigger screen. I already have a bunch of games I cam play in 1080p on the computer I already have.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 17th 2009 10:14AM]

I enjoy playing my Xbox 360 most evenings after work. It hasn't given me any problems and I much prefer the controller to that of the PS3. The Xbox controller feels much more comfortable in my hands (hand size matters?). LBP looks like a pretty clever game for the PS3 but that is the only exclusive that interests me, so a purchase wouldn't make sense to me. At the time of my Xbox purchase I was really interested in Mass Effect and Dead Rising so that purchase made sense (of course Dead Rising turned out to be less than fun for me). I'm happy with my Xbox purchase. I'm happy that you enjoy your PS3 as well.

[aubreyq Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:08PM]

Wake me up when I can buy the players in the grocery store. That's when I'll know it won.

[pedantic Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:13PM]

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/06/19/meijers-brand-new-99-shipped-blu-ray-player-brings-joy-to-sk/

Meijer's is a hypermarket (aka supermarket + department store) chain based in Michigan.

[enz1ey Posted Jul 16th 2009 6:31PM]

Walmart Supercenter?