Blu-ray is losing out as customers jump from DVD players directly to downloads, according to customer reviews website Reevoo's research.
According to Reevoo's data, the expected mass exodus from DVD to Blu-ray following the latter's eventual triumph over rival format HD DVD has not come, even though Blu-ray players have come down in price.
In fact, over the Christmas period, sales of DVD players were ten times that of Blu-ray players.
"We think this could be partly a convenience choice," said Samuel Bostock, Home Entertainment Manager at Reevoo.com.
Chore of eject buton
"The death of the VCR and the cassette saw the end of the chore of rewinding tapes. The convenience of downloads and wider availability of flexible digital content, suggests impatience with the eject button which may be partly why Blu-Ray isn't capturing the imagination."
According to Nielsen Media Research and Adams Media Research, cited by Reevoo, the sales for the first two years of high definition players (HD DVD and Blu-ray) were 8.3 million, compared to 16.3 million sales in the first two years of DVD's existence.
"When DVD came in, you could almost see the video shelving shrink before your eyes in Blockbuster and HMV. The same hasn't happened with Blu-Ray," adds Bostock.
Price shifts
However, it was just a month ago that the Digital Entertainment Group Europe (DEGE) insisted that Blu-ray disc sales had increased five-fold between 2007 and 2008, and one of Reevoos' key reasons given for Blu-ray's troubles - namely higher prices - looks to be changing.
Industry giants Sony, Philips and Panasonic have all signalled their intent to simplify the process of gaining a Blu-ray license by creating a "one-stop shop" for disc licensing.
This would lead to significantly chepaer discs and players, with the current timeline set for summer
Your comments (3) Click to add a new comment
lth
March 5th
3. Until we've all got fibre to the home, I think there'll be a market for BRD. I did download an HD rip of Gone In 60 Seconds but, being 20gb, the version that I bought from Amazon the same day "downloaded" itself to my letterbox faster!
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blufan
March 4th
2. I think this study is misleading. One of the biggest detmining factors to switching over to blu-ray is first owning a TV capable of even playing high definition content. DVD adoption rates are higher and faster because the transition is a lot easier to make. However, of those with an HDTV, blu-ray adoption rates have been exceptionally high and quick to gain market share. I've been working on blu-ray projects with Warner Home Video and have seen the numbers to support this.
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albrnick
March 3rd
1. I'm confused by your number of 16 Million player sales in the first 2 years of DVD. I was an early adopter and followed the DVD/Divx war very closely, and the numbers I used to check daily show closer to 2 Million than 16 for the first 2 years of DVD. Seen here: http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/cemadvdsales.html
Peace,
-Nick
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