HD DVD Outpacing All Next-Gen Formats in Sales Growth

Post by **Shane** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 10:30 am

At the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) Home Media Expo 2007, the North American HD DVD Promotional Group today announced that overall HD DVD hardware sales were up 37 percent from Q1 to Q2 2007, while software sales experienced a 20 percent increase in growth. The data is based on NPD reports, Nielsen Netratings reports and point of sale data from the studios. During the same time-frame, overall Blu-ray hardware sales saw a 27 percent decline from Q1 to Q2, and Blu-ray software sales were down 5 percent.

Driven by major spring marketing efforts which brought standalone HD DVD players down to an industry first $299, dedicated HD DVD CE players experienced an astounding 183 percent quarterly increase. There are currently more than 180,000 dedicated HD DVD CE players in the market.

[url=http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/news/2007/07/hd_dvd_outpacin.php]Read the Full Article[/url]

aaronstout · Post by **aaronstout** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 11:02 am

I am certain those Blu-ray hardware numbers do not include PS3 sales. Now that Sony has dropped the price of the PS3, those numbers are likely to increase significantly.

I know that many consider only stand alone players, but myself and many others are viewing the PS3 as probably the BEST Blu-ray player available at any price so far.

Personally I wouldn't get too excited over any sales figures until the holiday season is over. The v1.1 Blu-ray players will be out and we will see what sort of momentum either camp can gather over this critical time frame.

AaronS

Post by **Shane** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 11:15 am

aaronstout wrote:I am certain those Blu-ray hardware numbers do not include PS3 sales.

It says "overall Blu-ray hardware sales", as compared to "overall HD DVD hardware sales". To me, that includes not only PS3 consoles, but also the add-on Xbox 360 drive ... as well as and PC drives being shipped.

It makes sense if you think about it. It's comparing Q1 to Q2 sales. The PS3 came out in Q4 last year. It would make sense the sales declined from Q1 to Q2. In fact, it may be the drop in PS3 sales that is pulling down the dedicated CE Blu-ray player sales.

The bottom line is that it's all how the marketers position the numbers. Both sides always find a positive "spin" on whatever numbers or news comes out.

It won't matter anyway, neither format is going away. Your plan should be to buy a combo player as soon as the prices and features are adequate. The first will likely be the Samsung this holiday with full support of both standards for less than $600.

Enjoy,

- Shane

tnsprin · Post by **tnsprin** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 4:21 pm

Shane wrote:
aaronstout wrote:I am certain those Blu-ray hardware numbers do not include PS3 sales.
It says "overall Blu-ray hardware sales", as compared to "overall HD DVD hardware sales". To me, that includes not only PS3 consoles, but also the add-on Xbox 360 drive ... as well as and PC drives being shipped.

It makes sense if you think about it. It's comparing Q1 to Q2 sales. The PS3 came out in Q4 last year. It would make sense the sales declined from Q1 to Q2. In fact, it may be the drop in PS3 sales that is pulling down the dedicated CE Blu-ray player sales.

The bottom line is that it's all how the marketers position the numbers. Both sides always find a positive "spin" on whatever numbers or news comes out.

It won't matter anyway, neither format is going away. Your plan should be to buy a combo player as soon as the prices and features are adequate. The first will likely be the Samsung this holiday with full support of both standards for less than $600.

Enjoy,

- Shane

Not a chance. It must be based strictly on dedicated players. More PS3 have been sold then the numbers they have been quoting for HD-DVD players

Post by **Shane** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 4:26 pm

The press release makes no reference at all to total players sold. It's Q1 vs Q2 only. Re-read the press release.

- Shane