Posted on Saturday, March 03 2007 @ 11:47 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
Market research from Nielsen VideoScan First Alert Data
indicates Blu-ray sales have now surpassed HD DVD:
Buoyed by a rush of titles this year, Blu-ray has racked up a slight lead in unit sales — 100 units to every 98.71 units of HD DVD — since the inception of both formats, according to First Alert data.
HD DVD had a headstart on Blu-ray sales because of its earlier launch. However, in late December, following the Nov. 17 launch of Sony’s Blu-ray-enabled PlayStation 3, the Blu-ray Disc began to catch up in unit sales, according to Nielsen VideoScan data.
Blu-ray has the advantage of more major studio support. All of the majors, save Universal Studios Home Entertainment, support the format. Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Lionsgate and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment exclusively support Blu-ray.
Ken Graffeo, the executive in charge of the HD DVD effort for Universal Studios Home Entertainment, said, “Given that the life-to-date title sales ratios are close to 1:1, and given that Blu-ray has a 5:1 ratio right now on the hardware side due to the PS3, why aren’t Blu-ray software sales outpacing HD DVD by a similar ratio?
