Blu-ray sales surpass 2 million in Europe

by Chris Powell { Feb 14th 2008 at 12:00PM }

After officially surpassing the one millionth sold PlayStation 3 in the United Kingdom, the PS3 has done its part once again to reach another impressive milestone. The Blu-Ray Disc Association European Promotions Committee has announced that Blu-ray disc movie sales have now sold more than two million units throughout Europe.

So far this year, Blu-ray holds a 79 percent share of all high-def movies sold across Europe. "DVD-Video was first introduced into Western Europe in 1997, and the following year some 230,000 DVD players were installed and 2 million discs were sold through," the association said. "In comparison, Blu-ray Disc made its first tentative launch in Western Europe in 2006, and the following year some 3.2 million PlayStation 3 consoles and 34,000 standalone players were installed, while 2.3 million Blu-ray discs sold through."

That's a lot of fancy talk for: "Blu-ray is kicking ass and taking names." The BDA said its next goal is to "move Blu-Ray Disc into the mainstream," and it appears to be well on its way to reaching that goal.

Tags: blu-ray, blu-ray-disc, europe, sales

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

mji245 @ Feb 14th 2008 12:14PM

awesome go blu-ray

Andy @ Feb 14th 2008 12:17PM

If Blu-Ray wants to go mainstream, they have to get the standalone numbers up. And the only way to do that is too make them affordable.

Wonderflex @ Feb 14th 2008 12:20PM

Standalone numbers DON'T have to go up. The PS3 is one the best Blu-ray players on the market, and it plays games. Why would somebody buy a stand alone player when they could have a combination? The only downside that I ever see is that you have to use a specific remote to control the device. Oh waaa.

Andy @ Feb 14th 2008 12:38PM

90% of DVD compatible players weren't Xbox's(if they bought the addon) or PS2's. I know I'm making that up, but most people just want something that plays movies.

I'm a very happy customer with my PS3 that plays movies and games, but not everyone wants a PS3 or knows it plays BRD's.

Christian @ Feb 14th 2008 1:48PM

Well people used to want something that 'just plays movies', but who is saying that is still so? The PS3 is a convergence device and with the price of such a device being just as accessible as the standalone devices I don't see why consumers would feel a strong need for having more separate boxes than absolutely necessary. Personally I would love for a PlayTV version to come out that supports Virgin Media or Sky here in the UK so I could ditch the separate set-top box I currently need.

Plake0815 @ Feb 14th 2008 12:39PM

not really a special remote, i can do everything with the controller, but they should drop the prices for Blu-Rays... 30 Euro for on emovie?!?!? i only have two (300 + Superman returns) because of the much better Quality of special effects, but won't buy any "normal" movie for that price!

Dahk @ Feb 14th 2008 1:13PM

That's why you just gotta shop at cheaper places =P (i.e. Online at like amazon.com or something. I think they have some 50% sale thing going on or something.)

But yeah I still agree. Retail prices are really expensive for what you get.

j.lee @ Feb 14th 2008 2:32PM

Please let me know if my math is correct. In the year after DVD was introduced, it sold 2 million DVDs on 230,000 players, or 8.7 DVDs per player. In the year after Blu-Ray players are introduced, 2.3 million Blu-Ray discs are sold on 3,234,000 players, or 0.8 Blu-Ray's per player. Is that right? If so, is that something to be bragging about?

TheEnd187 @ Feb 20th 2008 3:35PM

Nice one DuDer, why do you guys make all this FUD like crazy? now you are going to say you have 50% of the market share?

Microswirl @ Feb 14th 2008 4:06PM

Additionally, you gotta look at what KINDS of movies are being purchased. I'm just guessing here, but I'll bet a lot of people with Blu-ray players buy maybe 1 or 2 action movies with big special effects or movies with a lot of emphasis on visuals (which benefits from the higher level of clarity), but still purchase most of their movies on DVD so they can play it on their secondaty DVD-player or bring it over to a friend's house. In other words, there's nothing mainstream about Blu-ray yet; it's still very much a niche market and will remain so for many many years. What the movie studios need to do is release combo discs (Blu-ray on one side, DVD on the other side) or, even better, hybrid discs, which I've heard DO actually exist, but just haven't been put on the market. They contain both Blu-ray and DVD on the same side. This way they can get people to buy regular DVDs which will look better in a Blu-ray player, if and when the customer decides to buy one.