It looks like the death of the HD DVD format did not boost Blu-ray player sales after all, going by Blu-ray sales figures from the NPD Group. Another problem for Blu-ray is that a report from ABI Research has found that many consumers may not see any difference between the picture quality of Blu-ray against the legacy DVD format. Going by NPD, standalone Blu-ray player sales tumbled 40% between January and February and then improved by only 2% in March.
So far the NPD has decided against releasing sales figures for Blu-ray players for April due to how low Blu-ray player sales have been, as it fears the updated figures would make it easy to identify individual retailers. It will instead release these figures later in the year. As many standalone Blu-ray players in the stores lack the latest Blu-ray profile, between this and the high price, NPD does not expect Blu-ray to start taking off again until this Christmas once the player prices fall to around $200.
With the growing number of households getting equipped with HDTV sets, consumers are now turning more towards much cheaper upscaling DVD players. While the picture quality of an upscaled DVD may not match that of Blu-ray, the price tag of around $70 is far more attractive than the hefty priced standalone Blu-ray players. In the first quarter of 2008, HD upscaling DVD player sales have grown 5% compared with the same quarter in 2007, while DVD players lacking any upscaling capability have fallen 39% between these same two quarters.
Thanks to CDan for letting us know about this news.
29 Comments
This is terrible news. Just terrible.
I'm shocked. /sarcasm Maybe they need to make the format more expensive and complicate it with more DRM restrictions? Possibly a new profile number would help with something even more cool like this time with the directors comments and picture in picture... 
- guest
- Posts: 15288
- Posted on: 01 May 08 15:34
can you post more great news like this more often as it is music to my ears when s$ny one of the big boys in death ray are losing money role on holographic players and content just wish hd could have held on for longer 
- guest
- Posts: 15288
- Posted on: 01 May 08 16:48
I love the smell of napalm in the morning! The worse Shit-ray does the better I feel. Hopefully it will die soon and allow for holographic discs to take hold and usher in a truly new era of HD movie discs.
Wow.. I didnt see that coming..
- guest
- Posts: 15288
- Posted on: 01 May 08 23:43
January sales are still high from post-Christmas shoppers. The lull of Feb and March is not unusual for any retail item, and it is ridiculous to try to parlay it into some statement of doom.
No, Will, don't say those things. Even if they make perfect sense, why deny a bit of reprieve for the poor anti-Sony squad? After their precious HD-DVD was crushed by their uber hated Blu-Ray, these days they need something, anything, not to feel so miserable. :X
- guest
- Posts: 15288
- Posted on: 02 May 08 04:10
Haha, I'd rather download whatever I want than give my dollars to Sony or any other member of the Death-Ray forum. The reason is not HD-DVD going the way of the dodo, it's the inconvenient DRM, the neverending stream of profiles and the non-upgradable players. It's an expensive POS. Piracy - Simply the better choice (TM)(c)(r) :d
@JohnZap; "After their precious HD-DVD was crushed by their uber hated Blu-Ray, these days they need something, anything, not to feel so miserable." Believe me, we are no way near as miserable as you Flu-ray chaps.. Im sure you guys enjoy spending $400 to purchase players each time the profiles change..
"it's the inconvenient DRM, the neverending stream of profiles and the non-upgradable players. It's an expensive POS. Piracy - Simply the better choice (TM)(c)(r) :d " I love the slogan! :B
DRM isn't too bad if you're just buying and playing discs. Its only bad if you're trying to copy it (or play it back off your PC). Obviously the fact that the ps3 is cheaper than most standalone players, means most people looking for bluray aren't buying standalones. Standalones can't be upgraded, they can't play games, but for the same price you can get a full fledged gaming console as an extra bonus. They've got to drop the prices on standalones.. so at least they'll standout from the ps3.
Blu-ray doesn't appeal to the majority of consumers because they don't need it. These people are perfectly content with DVD and see no motivation to change.
@ Will "The lull of Feb and March is not unusual for any retail item, and it is ridiculous to try to parlay it into some statement of doom." Believe whatever helps you sleep at night, buddy. @ johnzap Dude, it's HD DVD, not HD-DVD. At least get that part right. @ Malfoo "Piracy. Simply the better choice." Hmm... we're going to need a catchy jingle for that.
@ Hypnosys4U2NV "Believe me, we are no way near as miserable as you Flu-ray chaps.. Im sure you guys enjoy spending $400 to purchase players each time the profiles change.." Nah, you got it all wrong. I don't care at all about Blu-Ray. Could care less if it fails. Certainly will not buy it (well, maybe in some distant future if I ever buy a PS3). I just find it very funny to watch you anti-Sony mob try to find something, anything, to help you go through the utter disappointment of HDDVD's failure. On the other hand, it seems that you continue on the "standalone Blu-Ray player" path. Give it up, guys. It's more than obvious that most people are looking at the PS3 as their choice for Blu-Ray player. It just makes sense. You said it all: why spend 400$ when you can spend the same amount and also get a nextgen gaming console which is also upgradeable to whatever new Blu-ray profiles they think about next? So this bears the question: why do you continue on this irrational path??? What is important is not what the standalone Blu-Ray player sales are. What is important is how many Blu-Ray discs are finding its way to people's homes. That is what will make or break the format, not standalone player sales. Got it? :X
This message was edited at: 03-05-2008 13:23
This message was edited at: 03-05-2008 13:23
- guest
- Posts: 15288
- Posted on: 03 May 08 14:09
The PS3 is an awesome Blu player but still lacking: No native output for DTS HD Master (it's LPCM thru HDMI) and no region-free solution, nor are back-ups usable. So there we go to Flu mistake #x: Regions, I mean WTF? Seriously. Get over it! It's the same display format fer cheesecake... With some luck the media industry will turn desperate and more hacks will surface. Til then: Piracy - Better Choice :S
@JohnZap; HD DVD's "utter disappointment" was brought about by Sony and the Studios whose pockets they lined with green.. It was never a consumers choice to choose Flu-Ray, which clearly didnt earn any awards for being the "better" choice of the two formats.. Say what you want about us anti-Sony mobs (which there is a quite large number of us BTW), its fact and it has been proven time and time again, Sony doesnt care about the consumer.. Its amazing that even your own comments prove how pathetic this format is.. Your willing to buy a video game console to play flu-ray instead of a standalone because it costs the same and allows you to play games.. I wonder why? Maybe Sony whats to force this format on consumers the same way they forced other formats like ATRAC, Memory Stick and the ever-so-popular-with-consumers rootkits on us.. Maybe they also want you to have a video game system in your home so that you buy a game or two for it.. Its easy for them to do this since they take a hit on the cost to produce and make the money back when you buy the games.. Standalone player manufactuers cant slash prices since they dont make any money on the movies sold.. If you dont really care about Flu-Ray's future, your comments sure say the opposite..
Well if someone really relies on a PS3 as a Blu-Ray player he should remember how the PS2 lasted quite a short time as a DVD player... as the laser they used in the early PS2's was a catastrophe. I just WISH the same won't happen to those PS3 owners. The real reason why so many people went to Xbox or chose the Xbox360 was the dying PS2's, and well the PS2's weakest part has always been its laser. Sad to say, but a standalone has a much better laser than a PS2/PS3. So why go for an instable game console as a BluRay player ? Just because it is so "cheap" ? I'd rather wait a few years to see how BluRay develops, and how cheap the standalone players will be and then say a final verdict on that. The BluRay stuff and $ony itself are bad enough for me not to rush and spend my bucks on those. Not to mention the studios themselves that were bought by $ony.
@Hypnosis4U2NV "If you dont really care about Flu-Ray's future, your comments sure say the opposite.." Believe what you wish to believe. The truth is what I stated. Over here I have 2 1st gen DVD uber cheap players, 2 xbox which are primarily used to run XBMC and, most likely, a Popcorn Hour is on it's way for HD content. Unfortunately the amazing XBMC is not able to play much HD found nowadays; for anyone reading this: it does play 720p MPEG-2 though, with bitrates at least on the 8Mbps range. Find an appropriate program (e.g. Gotsent), convert .mkv to MPEG-2 and you'll hardly notice any quality degradation and it will play on XBMC (use the DVDPlayer, not mplayer, for best results). Again, the sole reason I post here is because I find it utterly amusing to watch you anti-Sony mob desperate to see Blu-ray fail. Nothin more, nothing else. Sometimes I try to send some friendly advise so that you guys don't end up so disappointed in the end. I did warn you, many months ago, that it was very likely that HDDVD would fail (who cares what the reasons were, the writing was on the wall), that the PS3 would be the reason Blu-Ray would kill HDDVD, etc. You try to hold on to something not to see what really will happen. That's your problem, I guess. I also find that most of your comments are not very logical and are being proven wrong time and time again. It just increases the amusement factor. :X
@ johnzap "that the PS3 would be the reason Blu-Ray would kill HDDVD" Dude, where have you been? HD DVD died because Sony paid the studios off. The consumers had very little choice in the matter. BTW, your comments are very entertaining to me as well. I've long supported people with special needs. You hang in there, sunshine. :+
@DukeNukem That's your opinion, of course, to which I disagree. My opinion is that you don't know what you're talking about. Blu-Ray discs were selling more than HDDVD and it was because there were way more Blu-Ray players on people's homes (via the PS3). The only confirmed payoff, actually saw HDDVD paying Paramount and associates to ditch Blu-Ray, not the other way around. But you, together with the anti-Sony mob, prefer to stay a myopic bunch. Hang in there and keep the amusement factor up. :+
@ johnzap Okay, can we at least agree that payoffs and number juggling occured on both sides of the fence?
A very good read !!! http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/05/03/blu-ray-sales-tank-reason
- guest
- Posts: 15288
- Posted on: 05 May 08 17:22
Maybe..like me..now that i know Blu-ray has won..i am waiting for the cost of the player and discs to drop before i go out and buy a player. Its probably the wost time to buy at the moment ..as the price hasn't dropped off as its so close to HD-DVD's death but give it a few months and i reckon the prices , as more manufactures can now concentrate on one format, will fall as many many more machines are made available. Just a BAD time to buy right now if you are sensible ...and tight!! ( like me )
@DukeNukem Who cares what happened or didn't? It's only you who were/are worried about it. What interests is the end result, no? You say that the corporations have chosen, not the masses. Is this not what happen most of the time? In the end you decide: either you support the corporation or not. You don't support Blu-Ray and it will not see your cash: fine, I do the same whenever possible. About the link: endless and pointless moaning. Like already said on this thread: the guy doesn't even know how to write the dead format's name! How can anyone care about what he's saying? The guy moans ad infinitum about DRM, DRM, DRM. OK, almost nobody likes DRM, I certainly don't. But on one hand he says that it has DRM so we should stick to DVD. Hey, wait, but DVD has DRM too???!!! Ah, but with DVD you have tools to circunvent it. Wait, but Blu-Ray has tools too!? What gives then? And, again, what is important is the amount of sold discs. Suddenly all anti-Sony squad is very worried with player sales. Don't they know the PS3 is selling in high quantities and that it is a Blu-Ray player? Many say that it's the best Blu-Ray player available so??? All very strange, myopic and pointless.
This message was edited at: 05-05-2008 20:23
How can anyone care about what he's saying? The guy moans ad infinitum about DRM, DRM, DRM. OK, almost nobody likes DRM, I certainly don't. But on one hand he says that it has DRM so we should stick to DVD. Hey, wait, but DVD has DRM too???!!! Ah, but with DVD you have tools to circunvent it. Wait, but Blu-Ray has tools too!? What gives then? And, again, what is important is the amount of sold discs. Suddenly all anti-Sony squad is very worried with player sales. Don't they know the PS3 is selling in high quantities and that it is a Blu-Ray player? Many say that it's the best Blu-Ray player available so??? All very strange, myopic and pointless.This message was edited at: 05-05-2008 20:23
"Don't they know the PS3 is selling in high quantities and that it is a Blu-Ray player?" Really? I must have missed something because it still lags behind XBox 360 sales.. "Many say that it's the best Blu-Ray player available so??? " Many think not.. I guess its better at playing Blu-Ray than it is at playing games.. "All very strange, myopic and pointless." I couldnt spell Sony out better than that phrase right there.. Thanks for summing it up..
@ Hypnosis4U2NV You're wasting your breath. Johnzap can't be reasoned with. He's like a terminator. :r
@Hypnosis4U2NV I know that English is not my first language but still it seems that even my simple English is not understood... I said: "... PS3 is selling in high quantities..." not that the PS3 is selling more than X, Y or Z. Anyway, the PS3 is selling more than Xbox360 in EMEA and Japan. Xbox360 is only selling more in the US. But keep watching this space because it wouldn't surprise me that, in the end, the PS3 will sell more than the Xbox360. The point therefore is that, millions upon millions of Blu-Ray players are entering people's homes (via the PS3). Now, check the latest reports that around 80% of purchased PS3s are already being used to play Blu-Ray movies and you get the idea. I also see that you're now going offtopic and trying to start a "this console is better than that console" discussion. Lack of arguments for the topic at hand, eh? Anyway, forget it, not interested, I seldom play any games and the subject doesn't interest me much. Sony may well be what you say and more. But you guys are not very far behind... if not in front. :X
A bit too early to watch Iron Eagle again in HD after just getting the Special Collector DVD edition & seeing it 20 times on VHS. Maybe we need new content instead of new standards.
@ johnzap Are you SURE you aren't on Sony's payroll? :r
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