Blu-Ray No Longer the “Bag of Hurt” It Once Was
by John Paczkowski
Posted on May 8, 2009 at 7:47 AM PT
Blu-ray is a bag of hurt.
2009 may prove to be the year that Blu-ray caught on. Sales of the high-definition DVD players–sluggish throughout 2008–are surging in 2009. According to the latest metrics from the NPD Group sales of standalone Blu-ray disc players in the United States rose 72 percent from the first quarter of 2008, driven by an increasing awareness of the technology. As NPD notes in its report, Blu-ray disc video technology is moving further into the mainstream. Consumer awareness of Blu-ray in the United States has grown 90 percent, and purchase intent is up as well. Six percent of the people NPD spoke to said they would be “extremely or very likely” to buy a player in the next six months. Apparently now that the average selling price has plummeted 34 percent–from $393 in Q1 2008 to $261 in Q1 2009–consumers find it easier to get past the “my current DVD player is good enough” barrier.
“The rising penetration of high-definition televisions and lower Blu-ray player prices are broadening the format’s market opportunity,” Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis at NPD, said in a statement. “Even as options expand for accessing movies digitally, Blu-ray is carrying forward the widespread appeal of DVD into the high-definition marketplace.”
That said, Blu-ray titles are still being dramatically outsold by DVD–though sales are rising quickly.
[Image Credit: The Onion]
Follow John on Twitter | Follow AllThingsD on Twitter
Comments
Considering the transition from DVD to Blu-ray is going faster than the transition from VHS to DVD, I think a lot of negativity is unfounded. The format war that ended in early 2008 is a big reason. Plus the fact that people are staying home more is probably playing a role in the shift.
A lot of people say Blu-ray won’t take off until $99 players show up, just like DVD. One would be right to assume they don’t understand inflation.
I expect the recent consolidation of licensing for Blu-ray to one instead of multiple licenses will help as well, leading – we can only hope – to an end of Jobs’ bag of hurt meme.
Posted by Eric Welch at May 8th, 2009 at 8:17 am