UK and Germany boast biggest Blu-ray buyers

UK and Germany boast biggest Blu-ray buyers
Blu-ray, big in Europe

Blu-ray sales in Europe have been enjoyed something of a boost this year with Twentieth Century Fox announcing that in Q3 Blu-ray disc sales in Europe were up by 49 per cent.

These figures for Europe follow the same ascension as what is going on in the US, but it seems that the UK and Germany are trouncing the rest of the world with their Blu-ray buying.

Put their sales figures together and the number of units sold top 10 million.

Turning point

When it comes to Blu-ray's share of sales of recent Fox movie X-Men: First Class, a whopping 60 per cent of those who bought the movie in Germany did so on Blu-ray. In the UK the number was 40 per cent, which is in line with the rest of the world.

Speaking about the results, Vincent Marcais, Senior Vice President of International Marketing, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, said: "This Christmas is a turning point for Home Entertainment.

"Alongside a strong line-up of titles, the technology is in place to meet expectations that half of buyers will opt for the premium version of our films, enjoying Blu-ray quality at home, with the freedom to enjoy digital versions on their tablets and smart phones when on the go."

Fox recently announced that it will be offering UltraViolet-enabled content in early 2012 but told TechRadar back in July that Blu-ray was still its top priority.

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.