Blu-ray sales in Europe are looking better than ever, with new figures suggesting that the format has almost doubled in popularity in a year.
In Q1 of 2010, Blu-ray sales managed to increase by 94 per cent year on year, with 8.4 million discs sold, according to new figures released by the Digital Entertainment Group Europe.
This meant that consumers spent a cool 151.4 million Euros on the format. This is similar to what happened in 2009, where sales of Blu-ray increased by 109 per cent.
Riding the wave of success
Blu-ray has still got a long way to go to match DVD sales, however. In the same timeframe 135 million DVDs were sold, which is a slight drop of 1.7 per cent.
Money wise this equates to a massive 1.3 billion Euros.
Overall this meant that combined disc units sold was up 3.8 per cent.
Speaking about the increase, Yves Caillaud, senior vice president of Warner Home Video said: "Blu-ray has continued to ride the wave of success at the start of 2010 and it is promising to see consumers respond well to the format.
"The industry is providing consumers with the most innovative and enjoyable home entertainment experiences, and we expect sales to increase as the penetration of HDTVs continues to accelerate."
This is all good news, but surely those betting big on Blu-ray will be a little concerned that the humble DVD is still outselling the format by 10 to one?
The entertainment industry will be hoping that another Avatar-like success will be just around the corner.
Your comments (5) Click to add a new comment
meditatinghamster
June 20th 2010
5. 3D movies are twice the framerate being stereoscopic, so logically will need twice the space on a disc. Most movies are about 5GB on average for just the feature, so Blu-ray will be the only means of releasing 3D movies. I don't think BD has much to worry about for now.
However I have to strongly disagree with the silly statement that there are hundreds/thousands of titles worth buying. No, there are not. There are hundreds/thousands of titles available to buy. Whether they are actually worth buying is down to the individual and what they can afford or are prepared to spend. 10 to 1 says they are not worth buying compared to DVD.
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mrstillwater
May 21st 2010
4. "Really? Not if you've already got the DVD version of it there isn't!"
It would help if you made your mind up on what you were complaining about. Are you complaining that there aren't any good films available - which as already pointed out by bradavon there are many - or are you complaining that you simply don't like buying the same film twice? That's no different to when DVDs came in and people already had them on video. It'll be the same thing with the next format change (whether that's 3d/digital/Super-HD or whatever). If you've already got a film on DVD and don't want to buy it on Blu-ray then don't, nobody is forcing you to.
And with regards to the article, it seems stupid to say "surely those betting big on Blu-ray will be a little concerned that the humble DVD is still outselling the format by 10 to one?" - why exactly? DVDs have been around since 1996, and didn't overtake VHS rentals until 2003, and that was without all the obstacles Blu-ray has had to overcome (format war, needing a new television, global economic situation etc.). The fact that sales have doubled in a year seems quite reasonable to me, and it's hard to imagine the increase won't continue.
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rimscar
May 21st 2010
3. "There are hundreds/thousands worth purchasing"
Really? Not if you've already got the DVD version of it there isn't!
Have a look at hidefdigest.com for a great overview of the offerings. I went to buy the wife Bd versions of Grease, sound of music, and any amount of chick flicks and most of them are straight dumps to BD which actually highlight how old they are!
So unless you're into modern filmage or specifically track down the remastered for BD stuff, there are certainly not hundreds and thousands worth buying!
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bradavon
May 20th 2010
2. "Unfortunately there are still very few BD films worth purchasing"
There are hundreds/thousands worth purchasing.
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rimscar
May 20th 2010
1. 8.3 million of which will be Avatar.....
Unfortunately there are still very few BD films worth purchasing, so perhaps they should spend their time ramping up productiuon instead of "being concerned"
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