What does one expect on figures when there is only one format to go to. I am not bashing BluRay but if HD-DVD was still in the race I expect this figure to lean towards HD-DVD rather than BluRay. I know I will start the move this Christmas for all my equipment needed to handle BD and all its non-glory. As for the U.S. economic status well a lot of people traded in their fuel guzzling cars for economicly efficient ones. However the price of food and the rising costs of utilities are also in play but those with disposable income are or will either go with the times or wait till after the Feb. 17, 2009 Digital era change to even begin upgrading I think.

$200 million???

How is that possible? According to the anti-Blu-Ray mob, nobody buys these things?

What gives??? Don't tell me it's Sony who goes to the shops and buys all that stuff, just to say that it is selling?

$200 million out of $10.1 billion is 2% of blu-ray movie sales compared to 98% DVD movie sales. Good or bad?

Hey, don't confuse the sony fanboys with the math -- it gives them headaches...

I wonder how many are returned, after the uninformed buyer discovers it wont play on his DVD player? Hell, I wonder if you CAN return them? Once opened, you probably own it.

%300 of nothing is still nothing

Actually i think the figure has regressed. Back when HD DVD was in the game, I think HD movie sales accounted for around %7 of total DVD/HD movie sales. Now, with only Bluray, the figure is now only %2.  Hmm, doesn't look good if you ask me.

Well, it had to be expected, the facts are not agreable, so the anti-Blu-Ray mob start spinning  things, distorting facts and throwing wrong data. Tipycal and expected.

Let's see:

1. It's "only" or "already" $200 million for a recent technology. A technology hampered for quite some time, by a competing format. Now, that the other format has disappeared, we see a 300% sales jump? Good, bad? Only time will tell but certainly there are quite a lot of discs being sold. Millions actually (is this nothing?).

2. You should not compare with DVD. DVD players are everywhere and have been for a long time. Trying to compare them with Blu-Ray is, frankly, beyond desingenious... Compare with comparable technologies at the same time of their shelf life. I wonder what were the numbers for DVD v. VHS when DVD started? Uhmm?

3. It's not 300% of nothing. It's $200 million. If that's nothing, what's something?

4. The figure has regressed? Are you serious? As far as I remember, while HDDVD was still alive, Blu-Ray disc sales were clearly above or, for argument's sake, let's say they were on par. If you remove half of the sales (HDDVD) and if the remaining 50% have now increased sales by 300% it would still be more sales than both HDDVD and Blu-Ray combined. Simple math really. Who has problems with math again?

5. Fox says that 8% of their disc sales are already Blu-Ray. 10 to 12% expected by year end.

6. Studios like Universal and Paramount have only recently arrived (Paramount "rearrived") at the Blu-Ray camp. Obviously these studios have not much Blu-Ray titles on the market...

7. There are probably a lot of titles (especially older titles, I would expect) which are being sold on DVD only. How would someone get hold of the Blu-Ray version if it doesn't exist?

Blu-Ray is selling more and more and the trend will continue. Get used to it, anti-Blu-Ray, anti-Sony mob.

Good explanation johnzap.

But no respond from the anti bluray and anti sony mob.

I'm dissapointed.

I'm not anti Blu-ray mob but hey, i hate the format for it's weaknesses to be even called a standard. But I do want to throw some things back at Johnzap...

What about these...

Let's exclude the people who buy Blu-ray just because they bought a PS3 to play games and can play the format. The first disk is bought out of curiosity and hype...? Actually, knowing that 7.000.000 people own a PS3 with blu-ray and seeing "only" 8.000.000 Blu-ray disks sold (average 25$ a pop) is patheticly low against the potential... Comes almost down to one disk per PS3 owner. I did not even include Blu-ray player owners or those with a BD drive in their PC as it will lower the figure even more. Or maybe let's also exclude "old movies" re-released on Blu-Ray format as 85% of released disks are older movies.

Before you say so, I want to beat you to it. PS3's are usually bought for games and should not be included to make my point? Tell that to Sony too... they include the sales happily to point at what level of success the Blu-ray drives sell... Changes are, if we stick a HD-DVD player in every wii, the format is back and Sony is done... :-)

Sony is not almighty... They are like all other businesses lying their way into people's wallets with manipulated dat. Nothing more, nothing less. If blu-ray makes it, it's because Sony paid off movie industries and lack of competition. I could win the Olympics if there was only two attendees and I had the money to bribe the jury to disqualify the competition... :-)

Just like anti camp twist everything in their favor, many do the same being in the "pro" camp including you and Sony...I didn't need math to come to that conclusion :-)

Enjoy

The PS3 was a Trojan horse for the Blu-ray format.

@johnzap

"4. The figure has regressed? Are you serious? As far as I remember, while HDDVD was still alive, Blu-Ray disc sales were clearly above or, for argument's sake, let's say they were on par. If you remove half of the sales (HDDVD) and if the remaining 50% have now increased sales by 300% it would still be more sales than both HDDVD and Blu-Ray combined. Simple math really. Who has problems with math again?"

No you didn't read my post carefully. I said total "HD" movie sells which includes Bluray and HD DVD combined compared to SD DVD. The article was posted on this site some time back and like I said the total sells were around %7 of the movie market disc sells. Now, since HD DVD is out of the game, the sells are only %2 of total movie disc sells. Looks like it is heading south and not north considering the fact that Bluray has no competition in the HD disc market now.

"3. It's not 300% of nothing. It's $200 million. If that's nothing, what's something?"

Considering world wide sells, that is a small figure in total movie sells. It has barely penetrated the market.

"2. You should not compare with DVD."

The article is talking about movie disc sells. DVD is a format that movies are released in and should be considered in overall sells.

Good to see sales are climbing.  I really wasn't too picky between hd-dvd and bluray (other than hd-dvd was region free).  I just wanted a high-def format, and I figured the best way to get my favorite movies in HD, was for a single format to win.  Blu-ray adoption could take over, if in the future you're going to need a better format, how big is the average household tv going to need to be to take advantage for something with a higher resolution than 1080p.

all formats have copy protection, they all get hacked, so thats a moot point.  Blu-rays biggest challenge, is they need people to have hdtv's to even need the format.

Agree with Zod there... but even so... numbers should be taken with a lot of salt and reportes should challenge these instead of just take them over and copy-release it as news...

Did we forget the number of Blu-ray discs given away with players last year that alone would already create an increase in movie sales? The real question is not about disks if you give them away for free or have every PS3 owner invest in at least 1 disk out of curiosity... It\\\\\\\'s about whether Sony and the others can sell players instead of PS3\\\\\\\'s, it\\\\\\\'s not about the discs...

The only figure I want to see, is how many true, real stand alone none gaming (PS3) none PC integrated Blu-ray players are sold... Take that number as an indication to see how much \\\\\\\"Blu-Ray\\\\\\\" progresses... There\\\\\\\'s a reason why the movies are targetted as the number to be released (including the free ones thrown out the door) as the Blu-Ray player sales figures (without PS3) would be so dissapointing and showing the opposite of what they want they want people to believe... A number lower than 1.000.000 on Blu-ray player sales is much less impressive than using 200.000.000 Blu-Ray disc sales...

Enjoy
Hi-Jack

Ha-Ha!

@Hi-Jack

I'm sorry Jack but you're simply throwing red herrings all over the place. What does the fact that there are X number of PS3's sold have to do with the fact that Blu-Ray disc sales are increasing?

What does the fact that, according to you, Sony is pointing to PS3s sold as a reason why Blu-Ray is progressing, with the fact that Blu-Ray generated $200 million in disc sales?

The article is not saying that Blu-Ray is, as of now, an enourmous success, which it is not. The article (and my scriblings) are just trying to say that Blu-Ray is simply progressing and, probably, at an expected rate, given the constraints and the time it is on the market.

And tell me what am I twisting? The truth? The facts? Where? Unfounded and unsupported accusations are not very nice, do you know?

You also say, replying to other poster, that there were lots of Blu-Ray discs given away last year. What does it have to do with the matter of this article??? The article is refering to sales from January to June 2008 and comparing them with sales for the same period last year? What are you trying to say? Doesn't seem to make sense really. If they were giving discs last year and if the sales this year have increased 300% it doesn't seem to make your point but the opposite, no?

And, finally, why the fixation on standalone Blu-Ray players? We hear and read everywhere that, most of the time, people are choosing the PS3 when electing to get a Blu-Ray player. Standalone Blu-Ray player sales don't matter simply because you say so. Toshiba, too, was doing the same, saying that HDDVD was doing wonderfully because their standalone player sales were higher than Blu-Ray's. See what good did it did to them...

The important thing is disc sales. That is what will make or break the format. Not standalone player sales.

@shaolin007

Find the article where it says that HD-DVD + Blu-Ray represented 7% of disc sales. And which period and market they represent and we will discuss it. Otherwise it's just a lot of hot air.

Small figure in total movie sells? For starters, it's not clear if the article is talking about worldwide sales. It's more like it's refering to the US market. Apart from that, I repeat, look at the whole picture, available titles, time Blu-Ray is on the market, etc, and draw your conclusions as I'm doing. Saying that $200 million is not much it just that, a phrase which doesn't mean much of anything.

And no problem in admitting, as I do, that Blu-Ray has barely penetrated the market, in comparison with DVD. But that doesn't mean anything. DVD is everywhere and as been for a long time. Everybody has DVD players, I have several, for example. There are a lot more discs on the market. Why the comparison? What's the point at this point in time?

And no, the article in not only talking about movie disc sales. The article and the title of this newsitem is actually mostly saying that Blu-Ray disc sales are increasing, that the studios see the percentage of Blu-Ray disc sales, vis-a-vis DVD, increasing, that there's more shelf space available at retail apparently, etc. It's you, the anti-Blu-Ray mob, which like to pick and choose those red herrings so keep saying that your hated technology/company is going to fail. But, unfortunately for you, it's doesn't actually seem that that is going to happen. At least, the prospects are not that it will happen.

As always, only time will tell.

@johnzap

Hmm not hot air. What do you think they have a bigger market share? With the current figures, it shows hardly any market share. The sells figures I would assume are worldwide since they never mention US or otherwise. To speculate that it is ONLY the US would be wrong.

And the article is actually called "Disc spending positively flat at midyear". If you click the link, you would see that. And yes, the whole article is about movie sells, if you actually click the link and read the article.

@shaolin007

Nice to see that you just avoid the question and say nothing. So, you present those 7%, say that the market share, sales, etc, are now falling to 2%. I ask you to present hard evidence about those 7%, so that we can discuss it. And? Hello? Anybody there? Just static, it seems.

Yeap, they never mention that it's only the US but, come on, read it carefully, look at the companies who are providing the data, see what the people are saying and it's not difficult to understand that they are talking about the US, like gas and food prices, recession in the 90s (there was no recession on the 90s where I live), that people prefer to stay home, etc. How do these executives know what is happening all over the world? And is the whole world behaving the same way? Nope. They clearly seem to be speaking about a market they know, the US, not about every other market out there.

Unless this is like in sports where the US have this idea that they rule the world and say, for example, NBA World champions. LOL. Indeed... Then those NBA superstars go play with other nations and they have consistently been spanked. Let's see what happens this year, at the Olympics, maybe my boy, Kobe, will help them this time.

Since you mention the original article's title, I also give you a nice and simple quote from it:

"20th Century Fox Home Entertainment president Mike Dunn cited data that Blu-ray is gaining ground at retail. According to studio research, "We are trending 8% Blu-ray sales [per title], and at the end of the year, we will be between 10% and 12%,&rdquo said Dunn."

See that little thing there, [per title]? So, if we just consider sales per title, Blu-Ray sales are on the 8% mark and gaining groung. Expected to go to 10 to 12% by year end.

This just confirms what I already said: that you cannot look at total market share because there are simply a lot of discs not published on Blu-Ray, especially, I would imagine, very low priced catalog titles.

So, this article clearly shows that Blu-Ray is gaining ground, not the opposite as you try to caracterize it.

As I've been saying: better get used to this, because Blu-Ray is here to stay, either you like it or not.

Sony?

What about TDK?

BD-R is not made by Sony

This is all developing into a discussion of ROM discs and not recordable.  We should call it "CD-ROM freaks" or the modern BD-ROM Freaks"

It's fascinating in that the discussion of higher capacity recordable media has evolved to a argument about Sony.  Sony is one of the developers of CD-ROM along with Philips. too bad you Sony haters were not around for the intro of CDs. Grasping firmly to your 8 track tapes and cassettes 

Well Johnzap, I did not mean to offend you in any way. My point was pretty well explained and left out in just about every article concerning Blu-Ray posted here. We are not interested in numbers but interested in how these numbers are reached. That's the valu of offering numbers...

One can play Blu-Ray on the PS3 and most PS3 owners will at least buy a few just to look at them, not because they believe in it but because they can. Blaming me of red herrings, you and a few others launch daily news on Blu-Ray becoming bigger and more wanted while numbers only indicate more Blu-Ray disks are spread including huge amount of free discs. Wouldn't it be interesting to know if Blu-Ray owners buy these or PS3 owners? If PS3 owners would not have a PS3 for playing games and happen to be able playing these disks, would they buy a BD player? Would they buy BD disks? Is Blu-Ray popular because of the PS3 concole or because of what it is? How many of these 200.000.000 million disks are given away for free, how many have been sold for 5$ in actions from Amazon and whatever other big resellers? (Would indicate the price is a problem, no?)

I did not accuse you of anything. Just said you copy and past numbers from elsewhere without challenging them. We as visitors count on reading challenged truth, not just a copy story we can read elsewhere already in tenfold... Be original maybe on approaching Blu-Ray to see where these sales figures might come from... That's interesting... even for us against Blu-Ray and it might chance our minds maybe about Blu-Ray, at least more than the overstated figures we see every day (dull, dull, dull) PS3, free discs thrown out the door... I believe these are important parts to include, no? Anyone asked these questions? No? OK.. in that case the article is "red herrings", whatever that means, i'm not native english :-))


I'm against Blu-Ray because it is currently still a "wallet breaker" and before I reconsider my anti blu-ray feelings there should be 1 version (and not 3) and prices are no longer surreal... Look at the news today and you find one more reason why I am against Blu-Ray... Samsung launches a "new" BD 1.0 player at "only" 799... Outdated... Esxpensive... and unknown customers fall for it and not combining the pros and cons in the articles or at least challenge these with the right "facts", helps fooling customers along the way...

In some reports I wonderif the site is owned by Sony by such massive positive Blu-Ray news overhead. Luckily, I know the people behind it and know this is not the case, but if not, I would seriously start doubting...

Ok, maybe that's over the top... just like the Blu-Ray figures :-)

Damn keyboard, i ment how many of the 200 million $ in disk sales have been given away fro free... not 200.000.000 disks off course. Even I would be impressed by thet number :-) And, the free discs thrown at consumers or rebates in prizes have a lot to do with the increase of disks sold... so no surprise, if it only costs 1/4th of the original price, the volume is tripled... It shows we were right about the ridiculous cost of a disk often in combination with poor quality content (old movies re-released)

Anyway... We can argue for years to come...
We aren't there yet. Blu-Ray is not "officially" a standard...

@ johnzap

"As I've been saying: better get used to this, because Blu-Ray is here to stay, either you like it or not."

Yeah, that's what they said about polio. I love change for the better, but Blu-ray isn't it.

@Hi-Jack

I'm sorry, Jack, but your argument can be summarised as:

- discs bought to play on PS3 should not count because I (you) have this far fetched idea about reasons why people buy Blu-Ray discs for it.

- most discs sold at retail are not actually sales but given away for free.

- I have no proof or data to back up my claims but they must be true because I say so.

Have a good day.

Yes it's not like the old days with DVD when a recorder cost $13,000 and the media was around $20 a piece.  Yes the good old days of authoring media.  GP did not come around for several years later.

200 million is far lower than the 1 billion the Blu-Ray association was predicting. Even if they have a hot holiday season. I wouldnt expect them to top 600 million. Which is still terribly low. They are basically giving away players with new TVs and they cant generate volume.