PS3 helps Blu-ray... laptops help HD DVD?

[coolkid1922]

i found this article and I wondered what the fine minds over at bluray.com would think about it. this is not my article or opinion.


PlayStation 3 boosts Blu-ray:
Chris Jenkins | August 07, 2007

BLU-RAY is giving HD DVD a hiding in the early race to secure the next-generation DVD market in Australia, thanks largely to Sony's PlayStation 3 games console.

Dedicated DVD players of either format are still too expensive for many
According to industry analyst GfK, the PS3 accounts for about 95 per cent of the market for high-definition DVD equipment in Australia.

The PS3, launched in March, provided a big boost to Blu-ray software sales, GfK analyst Sharane Lewis said.

It had sold about 55,000 units in Australia by the end of June, compared with just over 1000 units of dedicated Blu-ray players, according to GfK figures.

In contrast, total sales of HD DVD capable players, including the Xbox 360's $249 HD DVD add-on launched in March, were just under 2000.

Blu-ray software was averaging sales of 1500 units weekly, compared with 250 units weekly for HD DVD, Ms Lewis said.

Blu-ray also had the lead in the number of titles available, with about 110 software titles available for Blu-ray at the end of June, compared with about 50 for HD DVD. "It's really Blu-ray at the moment," Ms Lewis said. "It's a long away ahead, but it is still early days."

The number of televisions capable of supporting the so-called full-HD 1080p standard is also growing, with such sets now accounting for 8 per cent of the flatpanel market.

Using the PS3 as a key weapon, Sony is leading the charge for the Blu-ray standard, determined not to repeat the VHS versis Beta battle of the 1980s, which Sony's Beta lost, despite being generally considered the better technology.

Other Blu-ray backers include Pioneer, Samsung, Philips, Panasonic, Apple and Dell.

HD DVD is being championed by Toshiba, NEC and Microsoft, among others, with supporters saying HD DVD discs are simpler and cheaper to produce.

Toshiba disputes that Blu-ray has a big lead, saying that if PS3 figures are included, so should sales of laptops with HD DVD drives. Toshiba alone has sold more than 10,000 units in Australia with HD DVD drives, product marketing manager Justin White said.

For dedicated players, HD DVD had claimed 73 per cent of the market in Europe and 55 per cent in the US. Figures for Australia were not yet available, he said.

Mr White also questioned GfK's software sales data, saying outlets such as EzyDVD and Quickflix had been reporting to Toshiba that sales were going in HD DVD's favour by as much as two to one.

While the two formats compete head-on to secure control of the new market, the market itself is developing very slowly, with Blu-ray only just having overtaken the ancient VHS as the nation's second most popular video format.

While Blu-ray holds a handy lead at present, sales of Blu-ray titles still make up only 0.2 per cent of the total video software market.

With the war between the competing formats far from over, the public remained hesitant about jumping in and buying a $1000-plus dedicated DVD player, Ms Lewis said "At the moment, the majority of the hardware sales are being driven by the PlayStation 3.

"It's the consoles that are driving it, not the players at this point in time."

The rental market for next-generation DVDs was also slow, Video Ezy general manager Andrew Gardiner said.

"It's quite slow in take-up. We have them on the shelves in certain stores, but not in all of our stores," he said.

Where high-definition titles were available, Blu-ray was clearly ahead, he said.

Compared with DVD players, which were owned by about 98 per cent of Australian households, the hardware base for Blu-ray and HD DVD was still tiny, Mr Gardiner said.

Nevertheless, he expected rentals of HD DVD and Blu-ray titles to increase this year. "We are certainly going to promote both HD and Blu-ray, but it will depend on consumer take-up of the hardware," he said.

"We have seen Blu-ray players in the US reduced by $US100 here and $US100 there, and we will see that here too, with the hardware reducing in price."

Mr Gardiner said he expected one format to emerge victorious but it was too early to say which.

Ms Lewis said price falls were expected before Christmas. "We can't really make any calls on it until we see what happens towards the end of the year."

Sony HD displays and DVD assistant product manager Andrew Smith said the Australian market may not follow the US pattern of price cuts, but prices would fall here.

"The next big driver will be Christmas, obviously. It will be the battlefield where everyone wants to be front of mind with their customers, and price will be a big part of that," he said.