Blu-ray sales low: format triumph hollow ?

A report earlier this week showed that Blu-ray disc player sales are falling, despite Toshiba dropping its HD DVD format players back in February.

Obviously Sony was hoping and axpecting sales of Blu-ray disc players to boost but a NPD Group study found that to be contradictory. US sales of standalone Blu-ray players fell 40 percent from January to February, still in the midst of the HD DVD fall, before increasing by just two percent in March. This leads many to believe the price of Blu-ray players and media still isn't low enough for mainstream adoption.

The NPD concludes consumers aren't willing to spend the extra money on what they perceive to be a minimal increase in quality over standard DVDs, a claim it backs up with the 5 percent rise in sales of upconverting DVD players in the first quarter of 2008. Other reasons could include the HD players' high prices and the poor economy, as well as HD downloads offered from the likes of Microsoft.

Standard DVD players sales are also down, to the tune of 39 percent in Q1, but surprisingly, HD DVD player sales fell 13 and 65 percent month-to-month from January and February, respectively. 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.