Posted Mon Apr 23, 2007 at 11:10 AM PDT by
The Blu-ray Disc Association this morning announced that Blu-ray has become the first high-def disc format to sell more than one million discs.
Today's BDA press release points out that not only did Blu-ray reach this milestone before its high-def rival, but it did so in less than a year. The "less than a year" part is particularly notable since the HD DVD camp marked the end of its first year on the market last week by trumpeting a series of accomplishments in its own press release.
The Blu-ray release also includes newly released sales figures from tracking firm Home Media Research, which show continued sales momentum for Blu-ray, with the format accounting for 70% of all high-definition movies sold during the first three months of this year, with that lead growing each month since the first of the year.
BDA Chairman (and Sony VP) Andy Parsons is quoted as saying: "Blu-ray Discs have been outselling HD DVD by more than two to one since the beginning of the year and the gap is steadily widening. It’s exactly what we’ve said all along would happen - the strong support for Blu-ray among movie studio and equipment manufacturers means that consumers have more choices when it comes to players and titles. And they’re choosing Blu-ray by an ever-increasing margin."
This morning's release is the latest salvo in the ever-escalating PR war of words between Blu-ray and HD DVD. While the Blu-ray camp has been emphasizing their decisive disc sales lead in their PR efforts over the past few months, the HD DVD camp has turned their PR focus to stand-alone player sales (where HD DVD is winning), emphasizing the high attach rates for stand-alone players, and predicting that an influx of less expensive HD DVD players will see HD DVD disc sales rally back against Blu-ray by the fourth quarter of this year.
Thanks to Nick H. for the tip!
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