Expected Blu-ray surge to test disc supply

[Blu Titan]

Very good news for Blu-ray fans. Don't dispair because everything is falling into place very nicely. Not a coupon thread, but very interesting read none the less.


Expected Blu-ray surge to test disc supply

Sony says it will meet increased demand
By Danny King -- Video Business, 3/13/2008

MARCH 13 | LA QUINTA, Calif.—Movie studio executives speaking at the Content Delivery and Storage Assn. conference here last weekend had little doubt that Sony’s victory with Blu-ray Disc in the high-definition format war will spur sales of packaged media. Supplying the discs necessary for such a surge may be another story.

With some studios and analysts expecting Blu-ray spending to triple this year as Warner Home Video, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment all switch away from Toshiba’s discontinued HD DVD format, some disc replicators who can’t change HD DVD lines will have to invest in building new Blu-ray facilities.

Executives from Sony’s DADC division, which expects to triple its North American Blu-ray disc production to 160 million discs this year, and Bertelsmann’s Arvato unit said they won’t have trouble meeting the increased demand, though Sony allowed that there could be temporary shortages if demand spikes.

“As with all formats that are growing in popularity, there is the potential to have spot shortages during peak seasons,” said Jim Twiggs, VP of strategic development at Sony DADC Americas. “At this point, there are no shortages, and the market is adding capacity as fast as possible to ensure adequate capacity for all.”

“We have just invested in more Blu-ray capacity,” Bertelsmann spokeswoman Simone Biermann said, adding that the division will “quickly be able to expand capacity in accordance with the customers’ demand.”

Other replicators are taking more of a wait-and-see approach.

“HD DVD lines cannot be switched over to make Blu-ray discs,” Cinram International spokeswoman Lyne Fisher said, estimating that the company’s annual Blu-ray capacity is 28 million discs. “We are still in discussions with the studios and are looking at industry data points to obtain a clearer picture so that we’re able to better assess how we’re going to invest in the Blu-ray business going forward.”

Replicators will have to ramp up after a slow start for high-def discs. After two years on the market, as much as 6% of discs purchased in the U.S. are high-def. Standard-def DVD, introduced as a replacement to VHS, accounted for as much as 12% of the market after two years, said Dave Hoffmann, VP at Nielsen Home Entertainment, at last week’s conference.

That rate is likely to accelerate, said Eric Rodli, executive VP and general manager of entertainment at software-licensing firm Macrovision, at the conference. U.S. spending on high-def discs will triple to about $1 billion this year and surge to about $8 billion in 2011, while standard DVD spending will fall to $16 billion from $22 billion during the same time period, said Rodli, citing consultant Understanding & Solutions statistics.

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