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Tag: players

  • Europe's HDTVs "Starved of HD Content"


    FutureSource Consulting has produced an interesting chart (see below) that highlights the gulf between HDTV ownership and the penetration of Blu-ray disc players in Europe.

    It shows that there are 69 million HD-ready TV sets but just 8 million Blu-ray players,including PS3 consoles – prompting the title: "61 million TVs starved of HD content".

    While HD content is obviously available from other sources – such as VOD and HD broadcasting TV stations – the chart clearly shows how much work remains for backers of Blu-ray to get the high-def format into the mainstream.

    The UK tops the chart with 42 per cent of households owning a HDTV and 9 per cent a Blu-ray player.

    Germany comes bottom with 24 per cent with HDTVs and 3 per cent with a Blu-ray player.

    FutureSource is bullish that the numbers of HDTVs seemingly devoid of HD content will soon be reduced.

    It forecasts a strong rise in Blu-ray Player sales – up to 19 million in Western Europe for 2009 and 45 million players by the end of 2011.

  • Can Blu-ray Now Be Regarded As"Mainstream"?


    Sales of Blu-ray discs have climbed to such an extent in Europe that the high-def format is now officially "mainstream".

    At least that’s according to the cross-industry trade body, Digital Entertainment Group Europe(DEGE).

    Funded by the major Hollywood studios, the group says sales of Blu-ray software – which doesn’t include PS3 games titles – has increased five-fold in Europe, from 1.7 million units in 2007 to almost 8.5 million in 2008.

    This has no doubt been helped in part by the falling price of the discs, which are now approaching the level of DVDs.

    But the rising number of Blu-ray disc player owners is also fuelling demand for the software.

    Dedicated deck sales in the UK reached 100,000 in December.

    According to the DEGE, there are now over 2.1 million Blu-ray capable games consoles and standalone players in the UK, almost 1.4 million in France and over a million in Germany.

  • Sony Plans Movie and Game on Blu-ray Disc


    Sony is planning on creating a hybrid Blu-ray – with a game and movie on the same disc.

    The move is being viewed as a way to boost the appeal of the Playstation 3 in the face of falling prices for Blu-ray players and the increasing popularity of games consoles such as Wii and XBOX 360.

    The company is currently working on making the most of Blu-ray’s 50GB capacity by basically burning a full-length feature film to the empty space on a game-disc, which typically only uses around 30GB.

    Sony’s director of hardware marketing, John Koller, said that there will be as many as two or three releases of the new hybrid discs this year.

    "There are a lot of developers who say, we have this game based on a movie, wouldn’t it be great to marry these concepts? We will definitely see this stuff this year," Koller told VideoBusiness.

    Whether there is sufficient appeal in movie-based games remains to be seen – especially if Sony refuses to drop the prices of the PS3.

  • Blu-ray Growing In Popularity – Except With Yahoo


    It’s fitting that after a roller-coaster year for Blu-ray the high-def format should end 2009 on a high AND a low.

    With sales in the US encouraging, a poll by Zogby International shows that Blu-ray players are one of the most wanted holiday gifts this season for HDTV owners.

    The players are only beaten by consumers looking for a second HDTV.

    Overall, Blu-ray players received 30 per cent of the vote, beating other popular gifts such as GPS systems, Nintendo Wii, and MP3 players.

    On a low note was the decision by Yahoo to put Blu-ray at number three in its year-end Best and Worst Tech Products list.

    A key complaint about the format was the continued high price of discs despite the plumetting cost of players.

    Yahoo also wasn’t happy with the slowness of the technology, including its lengthy boot-up time.

    The Zogby results were part of an online poll conducted between December 2-4 which polled 1,726 HDTV owners asking them which gift they would like to receive this holiday season.

    Of those who responded, 66 per cent indicated they would be purchasing titles for themselves.

    More than half the respondents (55 per cent) said they would be purchasing titles for friends and family who owned Blu-ray Disc players.

    Not surprisngly given its early sales figures, the poll also found that The Dark Knight is the most anticipated title this holiday season, followed by
    Mamma Mia, Wall-E, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and Hancock.

    Reports suggest that sales of Blu-ray titles in the US and UK are picking up well.

    Figures for the UK show that sales reached 462,500 units in November, an increase of 165 per cent over the previous month.

    While final December numbers aren’t available until January, initial sales are encouraging – helped considerably by the success of The Dark Knight.

    A total of 6.5 Million units have been sold in Europe to date (up 320 per cent), with the market share expected to double next year to 6 per cent.

    So far, roughly 800,000 stand-alone Blu-ray Disc players have been sold in Europe, but that number is expected to triple for next year, up to 2.5 Million
    .

  • Japan Grasps Blu-ray – US Starts To Get Taste


    Blu-ray players bucked generally weak Black Friday sales in the US – helped considerably by average prices dropping to USD $200, according to DisplaySearch.

    Stripping out sales of Sony’s PlayStation 3, the researchers report that US Blu-ray Disc player revenue "more than tripled from a year earlier" during the week of Thanksgiving and Black Friday .

    Over USD $30 million was generated on sales of 147,000 Blu-ray decks.

    With Sony and Samsung leading the charge by dropping the price of their entry-level machines to below USD $200, overall costs averaged half the $400 price tag of a year ago.

    Coupled with the strong BD player sales, retailers have been reporting sales of HDTVs have been similarly buoyant despite the economic difficulties.

    If the US – finally – appears to be on the cusp of grasping Blu-ray, take a look at the Japanese market.

    BD recorders now account for half of all DVD recorders in the country – up from just 10 per cent last October.

    Even if this phenomenal rise is down to price drops it must still make for cheery year-end reading for the Blu-ray Disc Association.

    Now maybe it can turn its attention to the price of Blu-ray Disc prices.

    While the release of The Dark Knight is expected to boost the high-def format’s disc sales, the general perception is that the movie studios need to cut prices to ensure Blu-ray really does take off.