Blu-ray still whomping some serious new format bum
by Nick Doerr 
{ Apr 23rd 2007 at 7:30PM }
We say the subject line with all due respect and with this in mind: the numbers for either format aren't exactly mammoth. So, we got this e-mail that gives us a briefing of recent Blu-ray and HD DVD activity. We'll give you the basic results with oddly specific numbers. You can check out the full report for other bits of data and quotes we're leaving out for no particular reason.- The first quarter had 70% of consumers buying Blu-ray format discs. The other 30% was, obviously, HD DVD.
- Consumers choose Blu-ray between the two. Using "The Departed" as a test (it was released on both formats on the same day... Feb. 13) until the end of March yielded these results: 53,640 copies were sold on Blu-ray and 31,590 were sold on HD DVD. So... it sold more, but yawn! What low numbers for either format. It's going to be a while before these HD things take off.
- 8 of the top 10 bestselling films in the past quarter were on the Blu-ray discs... well, bestselling in the next-gen format category. We're sure 10 of the 10 were on DVD.
- How about total sales numbers from Jan. 1 - March 31? Here: about 1.2 million discs were sold. The number of those given to Blu-ray total around 832,530. The rest were HD DVD (359,300).
Our only issue with this war of movies or whatever is that, while the gap between the two is widening in favor of Blu-ray, neither are penetrating very greatly. Despite that, Blu-ray is winning and will probably continue to do so and that will be great. Maybe we'll get a Blu-ray copy of Children of Men after all.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
kingofwale @ Apr 23rd 2007 7:47PM
with Cars and Pirates coming out in Blu-Ray exclusive.. and Sony's Spiderman coming out later this year... I'm liking my PS3. :)
800K vs 300K, I believe that classify as "butt kicking"
humpty @ Apr 23rd 2007 8:26PM
I've got 7 BDs... Departed was freakin good.
Killer @ Apr 23rd 2007 8:45PM
Ok, first to point out. I am not going to discredit anything on here. Like I felt when the HD DVD crowd was claiming to be on the way to winning, because they had a good few months. It's dumb. This isn't a freakin' sprint. It's a slow marathon race. That we can't predict. Like Nick said, "neither are penetrating very greatly."
bootsielon @ Apr 23rd 2007 9:02PM
The format war could have ended now with Universal supporting Blu-ray, but they've chose not to do a favor to stockholders and consumers in general.
Some say it IS a favor to stockholders, by squeezing HD-DVD as much as they can till they jump the bandwagon, but that's only if you assume money's worth is always the same through time. Had they moved out from HD-DVD already, a lot more money would be raking in, since people on the fence of the format war would have already bought Blu-ray and hence the format would have grown a lot faster, and hence stockholders get their money faster to make even more money. Hence Win-win.
Hence.
massive_98 @ Apr 23rd 2007 9:02PM
I feel sorry for people who bought an HD DVD player. In a couple of months it will be absolutely useless.
But I'm sitting pretty with my PS3.
humpty @ Apr 23rd 2007 9:09PM
What im surprised about is that the prices of BDs are pretty good. Its not overwhelmingly more expensive than the DVD equiv.. even on new releases. Of course the same could be said for hddvd.
mccomber @ Apr 23rd 2007 9:11PM
I'm looking forward to getting a bluray drive for my computer so I can more securely back-up my mp3 collection. I've got a lot of money in it, and don't want to lose them. Already backing up to a second HD, but I'd still rather have a "permanent" backup option.
Oh yeah, and go movies. Bought 5 more today with my ncaa pool winnings I finally received. Should Universal decide to release their titles on bluray I'd have another half dozen or so to buy, I've actually started to buy less dvd titles in anticipation of bluray releases.
Brandon Johnson @ Apr 23rd 2007 9:33PM
There is a rumor floating around that Walmart will be providing $200-$300 HD DVD players by the Q4 2007. If that turns out true Blu ray has a real fight on its hands.
Space_Butler @ Apr 23rd 2007 9:43PM
It should be noted that The Departed can't really be counted as the same movie on both formats, as the HD-DVD was a HD/Standard combo, priced higher (anywhere from 5 to 10 dollars more, depending on where you looked) than the blu-ray. It stands then that blu-ray had the price advantage, so it can hardly be called an even comparison.
mccomber @ Apr 23rd 2007 10:02PM
Unless Walmart is able to swing some sort of Dale Earnhardt memorial HDDVD set, I wouldn't worry that much. Their demographic isn't exactly the high-end electronics base, it's the people who will say that dvd looks good enough on their walmart edtv. Actually, that's mostly sarcasm, I know walmart is often used by studios to gauge the success of a dvd release. I just don't see their average consumer as the ones who will jump into the hd format, just because walmart has a $300 hddvd player. They also have $30 dvd players, and that is the market segment they are chasing.
The biggest thing bluray has is studio support, pure and simple.
The prices on players for both will drop quickly, but I don't think price is even the biggest barrier yet. Right now it's convincing people that either format is truly that much better than standard dvd.
Tom @ Apr 23rd 2007 11:02PM
HD DVD: 1
BluRay: 2
DVD: 2345345399453535378454345797823545!!!!11!!!1!
#1FanBoy @ Apr 23rd 2007 11:58PM
I don't know how easily I'd dismiss the Wal-Mart thing...however the studio backing seems to be in Blu-Ray's favor.
atsui @ Apr 23rd 2007 11:57PM
oops, I can't share any opinion or else I'd be considered a troll.. oh noes.. only one sided arguments.. how nice..
I'll share it anyways.
Sony spin with weeks in a row claiming they've won with only after a few good months of sales. This is something that tricks gullible people to give their hopes up if they were or planning to support hd dvd, and there was a lot of them.
Great dvd selection..
these are why they are winning..
but when it comes to music cds and movies I want them to fail due to their obsession over drm.
They are one of the big causes of online media having to put drm onto everything, so if they fail and online media prevails, especially if the drm free itunes does well.. then that means a lot less drm to worry about. I like backing up my dvds because I have so many of them. If there was a company that has the ability to back them up and put them somewhere for safe keeps, I'd pay a good amount to get them all backed up since I have over 400(legitimately) and it would suck if someone broke in and stole them or if my house burnt down thats the reason I believe in DRM free with my movies.. also it's fun to make gifs out of clips and make some parodies for fun.. but they want this to be illegal... *argh*
mccomber @ Apr 24th 2007 12:36AM
Why is it that so many people seem to spin it as sony=bluray? There are so many companies involved in that product that many stand to lose money if it were to fail... same as hddvd.
These aren't the product of one company, even though Sony is obviously the most visible backer of the bluray format. Also, these numbers aren't spin, they've been holding steady for months. That would be like saying Nintendo's Wii sales are just spin, right now it's slaughtering both the 360 and ps3.
Spin would be saying these rising numbers are proof that either format is going to overtake dvd in the next year or two. Going back to The Departed, it sold 3 million copies before it even had it's Oscar night. HD movies have a long way to go before dvd goes the way of vhs... it took dvd 5 years to reach 50% pentration in the US. HDTV is currently at about 28%, with many analysts saying 2010 before it hits the 50% point. The current HD optical format is definitely in small numbers right now, and that likely won't change until consumers have faith in one format over the other.
san @ Apr 24th 2007 7:47AM
"Maybe we'll get a Blu-ray copy of Children of Men after all." Hey, Nick and I may be the same person, but over Universal Studios' collective dead body.
To whomever that was: At my local Wal-Mart The Departed BD is right at $24.98; the hybrid HD DVD is, and was at release, about $1.68 more. Also, your comparison of the comparison is invalid: most people don't own players for both formats, so they bought the format for the player they own. In this case, that was BD.
Further, same said local Wal-Mart was remodeling and selling off a truckload of HD DVD units for $249. They sat for weeks and did not sell. I think they eventually sold a few, but most of them I think were shipped off to some wholesale discount retail dumper company. And, again the same Wal-Mart is stocking BD titles over HD DVD titles something like 5 to 1.
It is of course still completely a niche market. Frankly an upscaled, or even 480p, DVD looks pretty damn good on my HDTV; and they are about $10 cheaper than their HD counterparts. Also the low overall sales numbers are going to keep all the studios sitting where they are, some supporting both, some supporting BD only, one supporting HD DVD only -- because at those numbers there's just no point in making a decision about changing direction. Also, it's going to keep the number of releases down, which is unfortunate. People rent far more than they buy, and you hardly care about having the finest in HD transfer for a rental that's going back in a couple days, anyway.
When Children of Men drops to $10 or $14 I'm just going to have to pick it up on DVD -- not the hybrid HD DVD, because I've really about talked myself out of supporting both formats. That's another thing: most DVD prices are dirt cheap on sale at release week; and then six months later they're even cheaper at discount. BD is going to be a special-case thing for us, I think, when the quality of the film and the transfer justify it. We own The Prestige, Happy Feet and Casino Royale on BD. They're all quite nice and worth it. We just rented The Last King of Scotland, not available on HD of any kind. And, you know, it wouldn't have mattered; it was a great film on plain old DVD. And DVD is now and will remain for quite a few more years far more portable than BD or HD DVD.
Eventually I think Disney will break HD DVDs back. It's kids' movies that are sold in mammoth numbers to a wide demographic range because kids will watch them over and over again. And Disney is not supporting HD DVD and likely will never have a reason to change their minds about it, and with Steve Jobs sitting on their board, probably will get talked out of it even if they consider it.
mushiking @ Apr 24th 2007 8:03AM
299.00 players are on the way also. this could get very interesting.
shase @ Apr 24th 2007 9:07AM
I think HDDVD will drag it out as long as they can...just because HD format really havent penetrated the market as a whole- many of the "top sales" arent really that impressive from a figures standpoint. I dont doubt that studios are making some money off of it but probably not too much. If Bluray wins this "premliminary war" and hddvd concedes then the future HD format will be all bluray. But if HD DVD drags it for a few more years then it will become more interesting when more people buy HD televisions.
And dont buy electronics from walmart... they are cheap for a reason... nextag has some great deals...
massive_98 @ Apr 24th 2007 6:34PM
Just so you guys know I didn't buy my PS3 for Blu-Ray. Haven't even bought one movie for it. It's just nice to have a piece of technology that isn't going to be gone in few years.
NHL Playoffs. YAY!