Blu-ray movies are selling at a faster rate than DVD-video movies were in at the same point in their life-cycle in the late 1990s, according to the latest sales data from the Blu-ray Disc Association which claims that 2.37 million Blu-ray movies have been sold in Europe to date.
These 2.37 million Blu-ray movies represent 79% of the High Definition movie discs sold in Europe to date, compared with 21% in the ailing HD DVD format.
PlayStation 3 boosts Blu-ray movie sales
Increasingly healthy sales of Sony’s PlayStation 3 have no doubt contributed to the recent acceleration in Blu-ray movie sales.
“Sony Europe is delighted with the popularity of PS3 and the positive impact it’s had on Blu-ray Disc sales,” commented David Walstra, Director, Home Video Europe, Sony Europe.
Moving into the mainstream
Blu-ray Disc | Association rep, Frank Simonis added: “News from Warner Bros at CES last month caught the headlines but what this news proves is that the tipping point in the format war in Europe happened several months prior to CES and the tide has been running strongly in favour of Blu-ray Disc for many months.”
“Our challenge now is to move Blu-ray Disc into the mainstream… [and] to accelerate awareness amongst consumers of all the applications of the Blu-ray Disc format and its rich feature package – such as BonusView and BD-Live – which combine with stunning video and audio fidelity to revolutionise the home entertainment experience on TV, PC and gaming consoles,” Simonis added.
