100+ million Blu-ray discs predicted to be sold in 2009
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Feb 23rd 2009 at 4:30PM }
"In the USA, Blu-ray has moved from early adopter phase through to early majority, with the format gaining real traction in the marketplace," said Mai Hoang, senior market analyst at Futuresource. According to Hoang, Blu-ray sales in America reached 24 million units in 2008. The analyst predicts the American market will eat 80 million discs this year. The rest will be represented by Japan, the UK and the rest of Europe.
Jim Bottoms, managing director at Futuresource, thinks Blu-ray adoption will finally get majority share of home video sales in just a few more years. "By 2012, around 50 per cent of US and 35 per cent of Western European video disc retail sale volumes will be Blu-ray."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
rohan @ Feb 23rd 2009 4:36PM
assuming that the economy gets better soon
JuanDHexen @ Feb 23rd 2009 4:48PM
Blu-ray FTW, wish they were cheaper thought.
Semi @ Feb 23rd 2009 4:50PM
not at £25 a pop...
Alphathon @ Feb 23rd 2009 5:21PM
£25? I don't know where you're shopping if they're £25. I don't think I've seen any titles over £20 except for extreme special editions or imports (not including box sets of course, which are inevitably more). Of course I don't shop in real shops (I buy everything online) so I probably havn't seen the highest prices, but seriously most titles are between £10 and £15 online, with some at around £17 or somewhere in that region. Heck, if you can get The Dark Knight for £15 (it is currently £14.98 on amazon) then £20 is a pretty reasonable price to expect for a rough upper limit (of course the RRP is £26.99, but really, who charges RRP except right at release?)
sumario @ Feb 23rd 2009 5:23PM
Where you buying blu rays that cost £25? Try looking around..you will def find blu rays for way under £15, latest block busters too....
rlchembars @ Feb 23rd 2009 5:01PM
Well, working at an electronics/rental store we have noticed the sales of blu-ray have increased, We recently increased our blu-ray rental wall from 2 sections to almost 6 to fit the growing demand. We have about 20ish sections for regular dvd so BD still has quite a way to go, but its very promising
Twinturbo120 @ Feb 23rd 2009 5:09PM
Wow quite impressive considering the economy in the US of A
Hife @ Feb 23rd 2009 5:12PM
Seems about right. I was at BestBuy earlier today and was shocked by the prices I saw: huge portion of the blu-rays knocked down to $20 and an equal portion of DVD's knocked down to $5 - $7. It felt very much like the days when DVD was replacing VHS.
Alphathon @ Feb 23rd 2009 5:26PM
I don't think Blu-ray will ever completely replace DVD though (at least not for a VERY long time), purely because DVDs will run on Blu-ray players. With VHS you would require a hybrid player or 2 different players, but that is not the case with DVD & Blu-Ray.
P.S. I know you were just making a comparison and not suggesting (explicitly) that the same was happening, I just thought it was worth mentioning
Nate @ Feb 23rd 2009 6:11PM
I'll still need an HD TV before I start switching over. That will be a few years out. man, I'm jealous of those who are buying these.
Bob @ Feb 23rd 2009 6:45PM
It's funny that people complain about BRD prices when, a lot of DVD releases (new) are 20$+, yet a BRD is about 30-40$. But if you shop on Amazon or shop at a place like Mega Media Xchange, you can get most for under 20$, even if it just came out. All you have to do is be a smart shopper and its no difference in price.
yo yo @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:19PM
they still don't get it? It's not the price of the players. I see people buying pio elites, sony xbrs, etc. 500$ blu ray players. But they don't, and I don't want to pay that much for the discs. The first week dvds drop they are reduced drastically, but blu-rays stay at retail. I believe the perfect price point is $20 per movie. $13.94 for a new-release in it's first week.
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:50PM
is that all???
hell I just bought 60 @ Circuit City. The most I paid was like $12 for one
arrness @ Feb 23rd 2009 8:09PM
i think it should be more.
50% by 2012? weak.
DS1086 @ Feb 24th 2009 8:42AM
Now all those Xbots who said 'nobody cares about Blu-ray' look more than a little stupid.
mntwister @ Feb 24th 2009 1:10PM
In this economy, I think blu-ray is suffering as a new format but one of the biggest reasons is the manufacturer's suggested retail price of many of the discs. In order to buy the 1966 movie version of Batman from 20th Century Fox, you will pay probably around 24.95 to 29.95 since the suggested retail is $39.95. Now this movie is 43 years old. If the studios were pricing these movies at a suggested retail of even $29.95 or $24.95, so that the retailer can put them on sale at $19.95 or $14.95, they would sell more quantity and probably make the same amount of money. I personally did not buy it because of its price. This is just one example. On the other hand, new releases are usually only $5 away from their special edition 2-disc dvd sets, which isn't bad, but the problem is in the economy we have, I think most people, except huge fans of a movie, are opting for the single disc dvd edition that goes on sale at around $16.95 during release week.
I don't think players at $299 are the problem, though I think by the holidays this year we will see players price at a suggested retail of $199, making for players closer to $99 and $149. I think the problem is the software prices, that coupled with the fact that the studios have yet to release some of their biggest catalog titles, while at the same time alot of titles being released were big boxoffice losers (Do they really think a title like "disaster movie" which is a piece of crap will sell more than, say, Titanic or even an older classic like Ben Hur?)....the studios need to put out the movies that will make people want to rush out and get a blu-ray player and start buying the movies, movies where the price point equals the value of the film. How about Star Wars, Back to the Future, The Sound of Music, Ten Commandments, Armageddon and other such blockbusters, now those would REALLY make more people consider getting a player). I do think the releases of Star Trek and other good titles this year will at least help, but there are too many boxoffice duds being released and people just aren't going to pay 20-30.00 for them.