Blu-ray once again rocks the niche market

by Nick Doerr { Dec 16th 2007 at 9:00AM }

Normally when we cover a story about Blu-ray, it comes with the whole "oh, it's outselling HD DVD 2:1" smack talk. However, we can't actually say that for the week ending December 9th. Instead, we can say "oh, it's outselling HD DVD 3:1" and crack a sly grin. How did Blu-ray wipe the floor with their high-definition competitor? It was the third Pirates of the Caribbean film -- Superbad helped out, too.

The funny thing to remember is that while between high-definition formats, Blu-ray is cleaning up, it's still such a miniature slice of the retail movie pie. So, while we do get our kicks by touting these numbers every so often, it's sort of a hollow victory until the madness subsides and the world decides on a single format to ever so slowly replace regular DVDs. Until then, when Christmas rolls around, we expect a large portion of you to have a Disney-inspired pirate movie under your tree. Next week will prove interesting as the latest Harry Potter film releases on both formats -- place your bets!

[Thanks, AG23!]

Tags: blu-ray, pirates, superbad

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

XDragon @ Dec 16th 2007 9:42AM

More awesome news for Blu-Ray!
I got a Pirates 3 and all 5 Harry Potters on Blu.-Ray
I did my part; go Blu!

Bucket @ Dec 16th 2007 10:00AM

In before "DVD still has 98% of sales". As if that has something to do with the HD market.

OTAM @ Dec 16th 2007 1:29PM

It does when they're all the same customers.

DVD > any "next gen" format.

And don't cry either because I own a PS3.

Bucket @ Dec 16th 2007 2:33PM

I know you think you're terribly clever, but if you took 5 seconds to research how long it took DVD to catch on as an alternative to VHS, you'd stop making pointless arguments.

Darkiewonder @ Dec 16th 2007 10:23AM

Well i know i'll help contribute to DVD and blu-ray sale for Harry Potter lol.

i'm going to be that HD-dvd version will sell 100k while blu-ray version will barely lead with 110k. and overall sales including DVD? 3 million.

Dru @ Dec 16th 2007 6:17PM

Darkiewonder, you change your avatar?!? I liked the other one better!

DVD took forever to pick up steam in the states. Overseas, Europe/Japan, it was hot pretty early. I remember visiting the states from Italy where everyone had DVDs and nobody had them here. It, basically, took The Matrix to sell the damned things to the masses. Even then it took awhile.

A quick reason why it'll take awhile for HD movies even longer to become mainstream:

I was on the phone with a buddy (he owns a blockbuster) while he was at work, and a woman came in to complain that either her DVD player or the disc was broken because it would only play in French. He didn't tell me this, I could actually hear the conversation. I'm sure you can imagine how patient he had to be to explain to her how she can change the languages.

My point is: There are a lot (A LOT) of people out there who have no flippin clue and won't have one for quite some time. Also, some people are very slow to accept/convert to newer technology, especially if it works "fine" for them.

Larz @ Dec 17th 2007 8:35PM

Yep, my grandparent's refuse to make the switch to DVD. I bought them a DVD player for xmas a couple years ago and hooked it up. They can barely understand how to work the VHS, and they just couldn't 'get' the DVD player. They wound up returning it.

For me, DVD is good enough resolution for the most part. And it's easy to rip right now. The lower resolution is good for HDD storage too. However, if there's something that's just cinematically gorgeous, then I'll definitely get the Blu-Ray version. Such as Planet Earth. I'd buy the original Star Wars trilogy remastered for Blu-Ray in a heartbeat if that came out.

nerdkiller @ Dec 16th 2007 10:29AM

This proves that once and for all, that the Blu crew will once and for all, lead over the red feds hands down.

Ed @ Dec 16th 2007 10:54AM

Mmmmm... Retail Movie Pie...

SuperGayParade @ Dec 16th 2007 11:02AM

I think early success over HDDVD is important because it will be taken into account when late adopters make their decision over one format. As long as Blu-ray continues to lead, consumers will perceive it to be the safer investment and will become Blu themselves.

Tim Parsons @ Dec 16th 2007 11:18AM

Is this at all surprising?,.

Blu-Ray has this,. is just a matter of the adoption from DVD to Hi-def ,. that in itself wont be complete anytime soon, it took 10yrs for VHS to die off,. even now it's not Totally dead.

Once the prices drop it'll really pick up,. I mean look at it right now the average Blu-Ray Movie is $15 more then DVD ,. and then there's the price of the players themselves compared to good DVD player around $20, and CRT is still a hell of a fcuk cheaper then HD TV's

Hell 10yrs ago I didnt know one Single person who had a DVD player ,.. and right now i only know under a dozen people(only 2 of them I actually know the other few i just "know of") who have HDTV's and none of them have an HD player attached,.

OTAM @ Dec 16th 2007 1:59PM

Exactly how I feel.

DVDs didnt need a new tv set to get all the new features from DVD like better picture,not degrading over time,menus,bonus features,chapter seek,ect.

High Def videos offer better picture requiring a new tv set. Most family size TV sets (34 inches and up) are ridiculously priced compared to an SDTV of the sizes 34 and up.

Galley @ Dec 16th 2007 12:36PM

I just ordered my 19th and 20th BDs. Amazon BOGO, FTW!

eclipse27 @ Dec 16th 2007 4:28PM

what kind of numbers is Spider-Man 3 doing with the 40GB bundle.....thats good news too for Blu-Ray

ChodalBerryWagon @ Dec 16th 2007 4:48PM

I live in Australia and was at some stores the other day, and it seems like Blu-ray has already won here or something.
At target there was a shelf of about 50 hi-def discs, and all of them were Blu-ray except 2 HDDVD movies.
Some stores didn't even sell HDDVD, only Blu-ray.

But I don't think it's caught on much here. No one really cares.

nerdkiller @ Dec 16th 2007 7:06PM

Its the same story over here in Ireland, I mean, at my local GameStop, there are like over 50 BD's and only like 4 HD's and they're not even on proper display (the HD's I'm talking about) and at Ireland's answer to Blockbuster, Xtra Vision, they only have BD for sale and rental. Same goes for another couple of stores in the area.

AK @ Dec 18th 2007 1:30PM

the myer over at loganholme (last time i went there) seems to be slow in picking up HD disks in general, i see a little stand about the size of 3 ps3's stacked on top of each other, half blu ray, half HD-DVD.
they seem to be selling HDTV's plenty, though.

Bearskopff @ Dec 16th 2007 5:12PM

I am loving the whole bluray kicking ass. I love my PS3. Have an Elite but PS3 is by far the better of the but...I bought a HDDVD drive for the Eltie!!! I have a good reason. I wanted Heroes in HD and after a bit of research found out it wouldn't be coming out on blu. Damn. I feel dirty. I have betrayed my Playstation.

Looks at rope. Then at ceiling. Ponders about combining the two.

Seminole @ Dec 16th 2007 5:57PM

I only own two Blu-ray discs, Superman and Good Night and Good Luck.

I don't really buy that many movies because I have Netflix, but I do rent a ton of Blu-ray movies from them.

Rob @ Dec 16th 2007 9:46PM

picked up Pirates 3 on the blu

Doug @ Dec 16th 2007 10:43PM

Even though I have a PS3 and a handful of movies on Blu-ray I don't think I'm going to be buying any more any time soon. I keep running into this problem where I want to watch a movie in my bedroom, kitchen, on my laptop, or in my truck and I don't have Blu-ray players in any of the above locations (and certainly don't plan on changing that either due to their high price). So for now I'm still just buying regular old DVDs, and I have a feeling that the vast majority of the population is in the same boat. I'm certainly not going to buy two copies of every movie I like, one on Blu-ray, one on DVD, just so I can watch wherever I want to. So for now DVD is still winning in my household, and it's going to stay that way for quite some time. It's almost ironic that the movies I would want most in High Def are also the ones that I would want to watch additionally in a location other than my home theater.

If Sony were to develop a hybrid Blu-ray/DVD combo disc (like HD-DVD has done) and figure out a way to sell it at a price equal to or lower than current Blu-ray prices I'd be buying those discs instead. But there's no way I'm going to spend $30-35 + $15-20 for Blu-ray plus DVD so I can watch on other players. I'll settle for an upconverted DVD (which looks pretty good on a good player) any day.

schylar @ Dec 17th 2007 12:57AM

thats why u should have ate the red pill and u wouldnt have these problems but i think combo formats are a waste they are pricey i cant wait till i go buy a ps3 to see what quality bd-rom has over hd-dvd

Doug @ Dec 17th 2007 1:34PM

There's a misconception for you... Blu-ray doesn't have a quality advantage over HD-DVD.

http://doubledeej.blogspot.com/2007/12/hd-dvd-vs-blu-ray.html

Larz @ Dec 17th 2007 8:36PM

Didn't look at the link, but I just have to say... DUH! The best resolution you can display on current TV's is 1080p. Both formats do that.

Blu-Ray is superior in other ways aside from image quality. But whatever, they're both a good step ahead from DVD.

IgnorantTechie @ Dec 17th 2007 9:48PM

While I think that the PS3 may have "boosted" sales examples as well with their Spiderman 3/40 GB PS3 system; I think that Sony failed to demonstrate the true "power" of the format. While the picture may be 1080p (which serves no purpose for me sitting 10 feet away from my 32" TV), there were no added "features" making me say that the $5-10 premium over DVD is worth it. So, while Sony can claim that they have a "Bluray" consumer in me due to my PS3, I will continue to stick with DVD's until forced to upgrade.