Tech manufacturer says Blu-ray adoption quicker than DVD
by Majed Athab 
{ Jun 9th 2008 at 3:00PM }
Singulus Technologies, a manufacturer for optical disc technology, has stated to shareholders at its Annual General Meeting that Blu-ray adoption is picking up fast. It's so fast that it's out-pacing DVDs. Said Singulus CEO, Stefan A. Baustert on Blu-ray trends: "... orders for Blu-ray in the first year of the dual layer technology already by far exceeded the volume at the start of the DVD eleven years ago ..."His claim to rising interest in Blu-ray tech is based off internal numbers and requests for Blu-ray dual layer machines. Pointing to current statistics, 21 machine orders have been received for Q1 2008 and have carried a steady flow into Q2 2008. What this all means for general Blu-ray consumers and PS3 owners alike is that we're certainly going to see more Blu-ray content in the near future as the means to produce said content is growing.
Given that Blu-ray won the format war early this year, it's not surprising to see adoption spike in that very same quarter. What will be noteworthy to watch over is if interest will carry on throughout the next few quarters. As Singulus expects selling prices for Blu-ray hardware to "reduce substantially" (probably excluding the PS3), we might be seeing higher consumer interest to complement those manufacturer investments.
[Via GamesIndustry.biz]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Devin @ Jun 9th 2008 3:25PM
I'm just glad it's not the opposite. All I can say is that BR's price better go down just as fast as it's getting popular or else the adoption won't be so good with people (from my experience) not really able to see the difference between DVD (native), DVD (upscaled) & BluRay IMHO.
DrunkRaba @ Jun 10th 2008 12:37AM
You must not have a top of the line TV, or one hell of an upscaler. The difference between a blu run in native 1080P and an "upscaled to 1080P" dvd on my set are night and day. One exception would be 28 days later, which had a horrible looking transfer :(
Also, I'd love for the main price to drop, as it is I get everything off of Amazon or fry's for the cheap.
NineT9 @ Jun 9th 2008 3:32PM
Yea, for most things, if you want widespread adoption with everyone, price is the #1 factor in getting there
Popfrogs @ Jun 9th 2008 3:47PM
Price and content availability are both critical. Nobody wants to jump on a new cheap format with no content.
Itchy @ Jun 9th 2008 3:53PM
Yeah, and with this economic "slowdown" in the US, things are just going to get tougher for Blu.
NineT9 @ Jun 11th 2008 2:35PM
indeed, your both correct :/
then again, this economic slowdown increases my spending actually... With the high gas prices, makes me want to stay home more and enjoy games/movies
lorddshadow @ Jun 9th 2008 3:59PM
well i think thats bad in one way because everyone i know is getting a ps3 for blu-ray alone, so if the price of players goes down, the ps3 sales probably wouldn't be as good. just my 2 cents.
Nathanical @ Jun 9th 2008 4:11PM
tbh, if the PS3 hasnt found its feet as a GAMING machine by the point that blu-ray gets to that stage, i think the stand alone BD players will be the least of our concerns
Nathanical @ Jun 9th 2008 4:08PM
tbh, the nice thing about DVD to Blu-Ray (as opposed to VHS to DVD), is that blu-ray players can still play DVDs. Eventually as the tech gets cheaper and cheaper, i can see dvd players being phased out and blu-ray players becoming the primary format while not making peoples DVD collections useless. The same sort of thing is happening with HDTV's aswell. I reckon its all gonna happen smoothly and painlessly. There really is nothing to lose.
Vcize @ Jun 9th 2008 4:16PM
Is it just me, or did he twist that around to compare Blu-ray's second year to DVD's first year?
"orders for Blu-ray in the first year OF THE DUAL LAYER TECHNOLOGY already by far exceeded..."
I dunno, maybe I'm reading it wrong.
JaseH @ Jun 9th 2008 7:46PM
Maybe he's referring to the daul layer technology?
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JaseH.
Vcize @ Jun 9th 2008 8:18PM
That's exactly what he's referring to. But it sounds like he's trying to count the "start" of blu-ray as when DL discs started getting in circulation, not the actual launch of blu-ray (which was SL disks).
Paulmichael @ Jun 10th 2008 12:00AM
I hope prices go down and adoption goes up, because I'm tired of seeing people with DVDs on HDTVs... Those poor HDTVs...
HanzoTheRazor @ Jun 10th 2008 2:00AM
I think BD will go to what DVD's are now in price, there is no way they will get any cheaper than that. I also agree that DVD players will be phased out slowly and replace, eventually, totally by BD players. IMO too, I think DVD's will be used for CD's and CD's phased out as well. I've also been thinking about the new M$ucks platform that will no doubt be released early again... will it have BD readers, or be totally downloads only??? What do u guys all reckon?
DrXym @ Jun 10th 2008 10:25AM
DVDs were expensive in their early days too. Early adopters will literally buy any old crap as long as it shows off their new hardware. Once movies enter the mainstream, the same tactics don't work any more and prices have to be more competive with substantial discounting for movies appearing on TV. BD is moving from early adopter to mainstream at the moment. So we're going to see the same thing happen. I expect ultimately that only a couple of dollars will separate DVD from BD and over time that BD will mostly supplant DVD for mainstream content.
I don't think DVD fans have to worry about BD winning for years yet. Even VHS wasn't overtaken in sales until 2004 so DVD has plenty of legs yet.