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Blu-ray sales low

A surprising look and the aftermath of the format wars.

"Americans vote with their wallets and say standard def DVD is fine, thanks"
Montrealien - contributor
Published: 609 days ago | Article | PlayStation 3 | Industry News | Tech
 
 

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Showing: 1 - 50 of 54 Comments
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Montrealien - 609 days 1 hour ago
1 -
The only thing I have against this piece is that they don't seem to factor PS3 sales as a blu-ray player, they only speak of stand alone players.
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sonarus - 609 days 1 hour ago
1.1 -
Movie industry peaked and has been declining steadily. The emergence of blu ray gave them an increase last yr. Blu ray is doing just fine. Stand alone blu ray players need to drop price though
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fenderputty - 609 days 1 hour ago
1.2 - Considering
every analyst and rational person knows that the PS3 will be the driving force behind BD for at least another year, this article's whole premise is off.

This is the same trick the HD-DVD camp tried to play when they were fighting it out. Meanwhile movie sales are up. Go figure.

http://www.blu-ray.com/news...
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Drekken - 608 days 23 hours ago
1.3 -
I refuse to pay $30 for a movie. Renting movies @ $21 a month unlimited is a better deal. I understand people still love to collect, but with the woes of the economy.. these companies need to get real. Amazon BOGO was the only way I would buy bluray and even then it is still expensive.

With that said... I bought GTA and I am still going to see Ironman! (offtopic, but I am excited!)
1.4 theKiller | 608 days 23 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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fenderputty - 608 days 22 hours ago
1.5 - @ Drekken
I've never payed full price for a BD movie. I buy all moves off of amazon. I just paied 18 bucks to get "I am Legend".

NEVER EVER EVER buy a bd movie from a retail store unless they have deals going on.
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Dark_Vendetta - 608 days 21 hours ago
1.6 - @1.3
Here in Europe you even sometimes have to pay over 30€ = about 47dollar for 1 movie? No thanks especially because I can get the same in standart definition für 8-9€
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Kholinar - 608 days 21 hours ago
1.7 -
"The only thing I have against this piece is that they don't seem to factor PS3 sales as a blu-ray player, they only speak of stand alone players."

No one doubts that the PS3 is selling well and pushing BR media sales/marketshare size. But I'd bet it's very frustrating for those hardware makers who jumped on the BR bandwagon. They must be bleeding money. So while it's good that the ps3 is still selling, you can understand why the hardware part of this alliance would be nervous.
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Genesis5 - 608 days 20 hours ago
1.8 -
Yes they say stardard def is fine thanks, until they buy a 1080p HDTV.Then they go hmmmmm, actually the Bluray is better. Or if they happen to need a disc with more storage space on it. They go wow. I can fit way more on this.
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squallsoft - 609 days 1 hour ago
2 -
Blu Ray id doin fine. Thisnks like this take time to catch on.

-Squall
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SIX - 609 days ago
3 - Make Blu Rays
Cheaper.

BTW, still waiting for

Cloverfield
Heroes
Transformers
Beowulf

Make it happen already!
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Tempist - 608 days 23 hours ago
4 -
I think they also neglect to realize that many in the US don't have much money left to shell out on electronics. I'm willing to bet that sales in everything are more or less down. I bet if it was compared to countries like Canada, the UK, France, Germany and Japan, the US would be shown to be slumping while everyone else is one the rise or on par.

This article is very much misleading since it's not taking other factors into account.
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Tony Scarboni - 608 days 22 hours ago
5 - Gotta love this sites continuity
A few weeks ago they just posted an article claiming sales a blu ray titles were up 300%.

Now, although this was not the same for harware, one would concur that a 300% rise in blu ray dvd sales might be seen as a success
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Horny Melon - 608 days 19 hours ago
5.1 - This article is not about titles.,
It's about players.
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VaeVictus - 608 days 22 hours ago
6 - It's not like
they've been releasing home runs recently on blu ray.

I can has LoTR, Star Wars, Matrix please?
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pwnsause - 608 days 22 hours ago
7 -
how many times am i going to say it. blu-ray is going to sell by the end of the year, aka BLACK FRIDAY=CRAZY DEALS. especailly now that HD-DVD is dead, BLu-ray can now break through, i dont understand how people are suprised that BD is not selling now. hello, its called its expensive right now! wait till the end of the year, especially when people are realizing that they have to switch their TVs to HDTVs because of the new standard in watching TV this feburary.
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Danja - 608 days 21 hours ago
7.1 -
I agree with you on that logic...but isn't DVD sales on the decline also ??...

I guess some HD-DVD supporter is still mad , I expect Blu Ray sales to pick up in the fall when all the big summer blockbusters are released on BR , plus the Black Friday effect , plus a price drop which will happen .
7.2 GameDev | 608 days 12 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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Delive - 608 days 21 hours ago
8 - I just bought 3 BR movies in the past 2 weeks.
And I am American. Hmmmm.
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athlon770 - 608 days 19 hours ago
8.1 - I guess I'm not doing my fair share
I only picked up "The Golden Compass" on BD.
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Legion - 608 days 16 hours ago
8.2 - Your point?
I just picked up 15 DVD movies in the past 2 weeks. So what was the point again?
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meepmoopmeep - 608 days 21 hours ago
9 -
stand-alones are way too expensive atm. and most are not even Profile 2.0 compatible. even most discs themselves. for $20-30 it's still way too expensive to start any collection.

what the movie industry should do is release new titles on blu-ray a few weeks before they release standard dvds to help push the HD media.
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heyheyhey - 608 days 21 hours ago
10 -
Sony should release the films from their studios exclusively on BD, no DVD version

that would get BD-player and PS3 sales up
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PirateThom - 608 days 21 hours ago
10.1 -
If people can't get the film they want on DVD, because it's only on a format they can't play, they're more likly to get a pirate copy or download it illegally.

It's a no win situation.
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heyheyhey - 608 days 20 hours ago
10.2 -
fair point

although many people are against that stuff

and many have no access to pirate hard copies and have no expertise in torrenting films illegally
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Legion - 608 days 16 hours ago
10.3 -
That would end Sony's investment in DVD sales. No win. Not enough Bluray owners to make it profitable. But the other film companies would love for them to do some stupid crap like that. lol
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digger18 - 608 days 21 hours ago
11 -
I remember when DVD first came out. My first DVD player (pioneer) cost me around £500 ($1000) and DVD's were £20-£25 ($40-$50) each, but they soon caught on. Plus taking into account that £20-£25 was a lot of money them days.

What was the screen rez of VHS? I bet there is a bigger jump in screen rez from DVD to Blu-Ray, than there was between VHS and DVD
11.1 Bladestar | 608 days 21 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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digger18 - 608 days 21 hours ago
11.2 -
You do make a good and valid point there Bladestar.

I was forgetting about the price of a HDTV to add to the equation.

Also I think it was a shame about HD-DVD, it was a great idea to have both DVD and HD-DVD on a single disc. Its a pain now that the new movies I buy on Blu-Ray, I can't just take it upstairs and watch it on my DVD player in my bedroom.
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Legion - 608 days 16 hours ago
11.3 -
I think a better comparison would be from the VHS jump to the Laser Disk. As we all have seen, that Laser Disk thing didn't fair too well. Yes a lot of people actually bought the Laser Disk, but it was replaced soon with the DVD. People aren't ready for Bluray... and when they are ready to upgrade, a newer better format will already be ready to jump in. Bluray is not the future... Bluray is the Laser Disk of our time. Sorry... it is already obsolete in the minds of tech nerds. Google some finer products that will be out in the next 5 years. (about the time period where American consumers will start buying new tech again)
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Apocalypse Shadow - 608 days 21 hours ago
12 - i wonder how hd-dvd sales are going....
oh wait,hd-dvd is dead.

just like vhs and dvd,sales aren't going to skyrocket over night.it takes frickin time.

it's like the same haters,360 fans and losers against sony or bluray still have an agenda.it's like everything has to happen overnight.

"we want games NOW."
"we want next gen movies sales to skyrocket NOW."
"we want sony big franchises to release NOW so that we can criticize them."
"we want sony to release HOME NOW,so that we can bag on anything it doesn't have at launch."

"NOW-NOW-NOW!!!"

ps3 gamers waited and got a reliable system.we waited and got the winning next gen movie format that will only rise as hd tv sales rise and movie prices fall.we waited and got great new franchises like heavenly sword and motostorm.and we will wait and laugh as sony outsells microsoft over a 10 year life cycle.

sometimes PATIENCE is a VIRTUE for those who understand what i mean.

megaton..................
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Nostradamus - 608 days 19 hours ago
12.1 - ha ha ha , lol
Its a big conspiracy, huh?

These xbox fanboys are hampering blu-ray sales!!

Oh, no!!
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Apocalypse Shadow - 608 days 19 hours ago
12.2 - nostra,you must can't read
what i'm saying is that bluray sales will pick up as sales of hd tvs go down,movie prices go down and players go down.to expect a ridiculous jump in sales overnight when hd-dvd just got its @ss whoop is retarded.

it takes time.but haters don't have patience.they are always expecting more in a short amount of time.did dvd sales jump astronomically overnight when it was released?no.did vhs sales jump overnight when beta was beaten?no.

i'm saying how foolish haters are to what happens over a period of time.not when they want it to be in their small brains.

megaton..................
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jones smokey - 608 days 21 hours ago
13 - nope
most people by a ps3 for blu ray and not a stand alone blu ray player, if u look at it over 12 million ps3 solds combine it with stand alone blu ray players and u will see the sales are not that low, ....give it like 2-5 more years when this talk about next gen entertament settles in propley, this new gen is not more than 2 years old.
14 zapass | 608 days 21 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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mrlokievil - 608 days 21 hours ago
15 -
They are just too expensive. I'm not paying $30-35 for a disc that doesn't have anything that isn't on the standard dvd but i'm also not buying as many dvds either. They keep raising the prices of dvds and expect people to keep paying it.
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anh_duong - 608 days 21 hours ago
16 -
stupid stupid dumb article ..

firstly, the whole industry slowed in Q1 since standard DVD players sales are also down to the tune of 39 percent. A similar drop in blu-ray players which dropped 38% (40% drop in jan/feb followed by a 2% rise in March). However, the numbers ignored PS3 consoles which increased considerably from the previous year. furthermore, the author HADN'T't realise that blu-ray HADN'T FULLY WON the format war in january and february (the 40% drop months) and in March when blu-ray won blu-ray player sales actually increased by 2% during a time when DVD and HD DVD players continued to drop. How stupid is that?? The writer talks about blu-ray sales being poor but hadn't realised that blu-ray hadn't won the war during that period so of course blu-ray sales would have been on a par with other formats.

secondly, most people buy ps3 for their blu-ray players until standalone prices drop. so to not include ps3 sales is stupid.

thirdly, The nascent Blu-ray Disc saved the day for the sellthrough business, per Nielsen VideoScan sales data, with DVD unit sales in the first quarter down 1.2% from the first quarter of 2007 but Blu-ray Disc sales up a whopping 351%. source http://www.hollywoodreporte...

dvd sales are DROPPING and blu-ray sales are rising EXPONENTIALLY. The consumer is transitioning from dvd to blu-ray. the author is not including media sales which is the single biggest driving force for growth in the home video market. It is actual media sales that are more important for studios because this is where they make the money. the author has willingly ignored the explosive growth in blu-ray media sales. GET this: actual spending on blu-ray and dvd media grew in a period when dvd and standalone players decreased! why? because of blu-ray media sales which increased whilst dvd sales decreased! so do studios care if they have record and explosive growth in revenues from blu-ray disk sales?? of course not!

fourthly, also wasn't there an article today saying that now 80% of ps3 owners use the console for blu-ray videos as opposed to 40% a few months back. this can only help blu-ray sales grow even faster.

finally, as paramount, universal and dreamworks release their catelogue on blu-ray the number of choices and purchases will increase.

i hate stupid articles by stupid journalists . The guy should be fired. nothing annoys me more than incompentent analysts.

note also what camp the author comes from by just readin his last comment:

Despite the format's demise, HD DVD discs are still on sale and at a discount, while the players themselves can play and upconvert standard DVDs, which helps extend their longevity.

What has this got to do with an article talking about blu-ray sales???
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ukilnme - 608 days 21 hours ago
17 -
I'll take my PS3 over a stand alone player any day of the week but I will stick to renting bluray movies until the in store prices drop below $20.
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Zeevious - 608 days 20 hours ago
17.1 - It's easy to afford buying Blu-Ray movies...
If you'd just switch to GEICO.

I've heard it's SOoo easy, a caveman can do it!

;)
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PSWe60 - 608 days 20 hours ago
18 -
I haven't bought a Blu-ray disc in about a month primarily because of our crappy economy and the price of gasoline.
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Tsalagi - 608 days 19 hours ago
18.1 - Ding Ding Ding!!
That's what people need to realize before they write these articles declaring the death of something. The whole reason sales of HD movies and TV's (in the U.S. at least) was so high was because people were using their houses as ATM's to buy all those big screens and Blu-ray players. Now that the housing party is over, gas prices are high, and the cost of living climbing higher everyday not everybody can afford $1000+ televisions to watch high-def movies on. So naturally sales are going to be lower than what they were when everybody was spending recklessly.
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digger18 - 608 days 20 hours ago
19 -
Lol, you should try paying for gasoline over here in the UK.. Its around £4.54 per gallon (£1.19 per litre). that coverts to around $9.08 per gallon
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edonus - 608 days 20 hours ago
20 - I posted that this would happen along time ago....
This is what happens when you win wars with propaganda. They ended the war too soon, Toshiba pulling out and dropping HD dvd was like that last grenade you drop right when one melee attacks you and kill you. By pulling out let Blu Ray win, ask yourself what did they win...A full 2-3 persent of a market that was fine with what it had and was still on the fence about whether an upgrade was really necessary. When they had a war it added interest, it gave them a platform to explain their features and why they should consider their technology.

Blu Ray is by itself now trying to convince, but there is no rush there is no competition, why not wait its not like Blu Ray is goin anywhere. But they did need to win that format fast, if HD dvd finally got its feet under it, it couldve actually took Blu Ray out. The industry killed themselves. I always said movie makers and music makers are artists 1st then businessmen. So they tend to make longshot decisions with passion. Business ppl cover all bases all the time. The movie studios began aligning themselves with formats, instead of just supporting both and letting the ppl decide, representing a brand is an act of passion.

Now ppl dont even want to buy dvds because they arent sure whether they want to spend the money to upgrade or not.
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Death - 608 days 20 hours ago
21 - PS3 complicates Blu-Ray numbers.
Since PS3's aren't necessarily bought for their Blu-Ray movie capability it is hard to factor in how they impact Blu-Ray movie sales. If you want to figure it out yourself, the PS3 NPD nubers look like this:

Dec 07 797k
Jan 08 269k
Feb 08 280k
Mar 08 257k

Obviously the fall from December and the Holiday rush is a given, but over the quarter sales did go down after a brief spike in February. As the numbers show, PS3 sales are a wash from month to month since they are relatively consistant. This leaves actual dedicated player sales to make up the differance either positive or negative as far as growth is concerned.

There is a reason Sony is starting to adopt digital distribution. The format war is dead and they need to look into future trends. For hard based media Blu-Ray is the choice. This leaves a lot of room though when you look at what people actually want to spend their money on.

-Death
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anh_duong - 608 days 20 hours ago
21.1 -
ps3 usage for blu-ray video has double amongst ps3 owners in the past year.
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Legion - 608 days 16 hours ago
21.2 - anh duong
Doubled? Is that over the whole system or attach rate? I doubt the attach rate has doubled. And I would expect the whole system rate to double with the increase in PS3 sales throughout the year. And where are your numbers for this?
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SacT0wnF1n3st - 608 days 19 hours ago
22 -
I think at the end of the day Blu Ray will be the next gen format for movies and all Blu Ray movies are gorgeous.
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Lucreto - 608 days 19 hours ago
23 -
Wait until they discontinue DVD we will sure see a rise then.
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Jason 360 - 608 days 18 hours ago
24 -
By the time Blu-Ray comes close to that of DVD, there will be other "cheaper" formats to choose from.
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xboxme - 608 days 18 hours ago
25 -
plus doesn't it suck when you buy a bluray title, you can only play it in your home that has the player. good luck taking that to another room w/o bluray, a friend's house or in the suv.

hmm, didn't hddvd have the combo disc that solved that problem?

did the people really choose bluray over hddvd? apparantly not... cuz those people are not buying them.
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