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HD DVD sales are less than 2,000 behind those of Blu-ray Disc

In a recent battle of press releases, the Blu-ray Association announced that sales of Blu-ray Disc titles have surpassed one million units in less than a year since the format’s introduction. In a statement from the HD DVD Promotional Group received by DailyTech, it appears that sales of HD DVD movies are not far behind those of Blu-ray Disc.

According to stats cited by the HD DVD Group, which are based on recent data from Nielsen Videoscan, Universal, Warner and Toshiba, HD DVD titles are now at 998,059 units sold, representing less-than 2,000 units shy of Blu-ray’s announced figures. Of course, while the next-generation formats fight over claims of collective sales of one million, a single DVD title could easily sell over one million units on its own.

“Yes, these are still small numbers compared to DVD sales, but point being – HD DVD is still very much in the game,” read the HD DVD Group statement. “As more HD DVD titles hit the market (take a look at pre-order rankings for Planet Earth and The Matrix Trilogy) and as prices for HD DVD hardware continue to drop below the $400 mark, we're seeing more equal week to week movie sales ratios between the formats.”

The HD DVD Promotional Group announced last week that it has sold more than 100,000 standalone players in the U.S. since introduction, and claims to be currently outselling dedicated Blu-ray players by a four-to-one margin.

“Why are we just focusing on dedicated players? So we can compare stats on similar hardware with similar attach rates,” explained the HD DVD Group. “That's a key driver of software sales and shows that price is clearly a factor for consumers in deciding to buy dedicated high definition hardware.”

“Bottom line is that HD DVD is staying focused across the board on creating great products at great prices,” the Group added.

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Image Quality and digitally remastered film
By Jackyl on 4/26/2007 1:55:13 PM , Rating: 3
I could care less at this point who wins. What I'd like to see is all films being cleaned up. There are some terrible releases out there on both formats. For example, Waterworld for HD-DVD. It has a lot of spots, scratches throughout the film, especially at the very beginning. The studios are not taking the time to clean up the films, and get rid of scratches, hair, spots . This should all be cleaned up before going to HD-DVD/Blu-Ray.

High-Def resolution is one thing. But I don't want to see all that junk on the frames throughout the movie. It's no better then a lot of DVD releases and is why I never bought a lot of DVD's. I know several people that also won't buy any movies if they are not properly remastered and digitally cleaned up.




RE: Image Quality and digitally remastered film
By johnsonx on 4/26/2007 4:49:46 PM , Rating: 5
quote:
For example, Waterworld for HD-DVD. It has a lot of spots, scratches throughout the film...


To say nothing of the spots and scratches throughout the PLOT!


By masher2 (blog) on 4/26/2007 5:05:03 PM , Rating: 3
That movie had a plot?


RE: Image Quality and digitally remastered film
By fic2 on 4/26/2007 8:27:23 PM , Rating: 2
They didn't actually expect anyone to watch it. I am suprised they bothered to put any content on the disc at all. Actually, come to think of it - that would have been an improvement.


RE: Image Quality and digitally remastered film
By jadedeath on 4/26/2007 10:25:19 PM , Rating: 2
I think I'll make Waterworld 2, the movie with Plot!

Logan


By tuteja1986 on 4/27/2007 1:42:02 PM , Rating: 2
Any one remember UMD... It sold 8million UMD movies in the 1st year and now look where it is. Just because they reached 1million doesn't mean crap all.


By timmiser on 4/26/2007 7:18:52 PM , Rating: 2
No no no! First you have to buy the first version as it is with the scratches and hair. Then, after you purchased this version, that is when they will release a REMASTERED version for you to buy.


success indicator
By Verran on 4/26/2007 9:48:08 AM , Rating: 5
The pic in the Blu-Ray article had two cute asian girls, the HD-DVD article only has one cute one. I think the winner is obvious. :)




RE: success indicator
By soydeedo on 4/26/2007 10:02:42 AM , Rating: 3
but one of them looked like a man. and an ugly one at that. instant point deduction.


RE: success indicator
By bkm32 on 4/26/2007 12:59:56 PM , Rating: 3
It looks like one of the BR-DVD girls is the same one in the HD-DVD Pic.

Is this a metaphor for the need of a dual-format player or disc?


RE: success indicator
By alifbaa on 4/26/2007 5:08:14 PM , Rating: 1
No. That metaphor was the trany mentioned above.


RE: success indicator
By bkm32 on 4/26/2007 1:07:54 PM , Rating: 2
Seriously, the real indicator will be when the Matrix Trilogy releases for HD-DVD. Following that will be the format that snags either the Star Wars saga (s) and/or the The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Also, I remember The Waterboy moving a lot of DVD players back when they were $300+. You know what Mama says, "Hi-Def is da debil!"


lets not forget that..
By michal1980 on 4/26/2007 9:51:28 AM , Rating: 4
HD-DVD came out MONTHS before Blu-Ray. And for a few months had NO competition.




RE: lets not forget that..
By teldar on 4/26/2007 10:42:31 AM , Rating: 3
But the players were a thousand dollars a piece, and people could buy 0-2 titles for a couple of those months. What will happen when PS3 buyers slow down on the BR disk movie buying. If they do.

Teldar


RE: lets not forget that..
By masher2 (blog) on 4/26/2007 10:52:59 AM , Rating: 3
> "What will happen when PS3 buyers slow down on the BR disk movie buying..."

3 million PS3s worldwide, and only 1 million BD discs sold? Even assuming standalone BD buyers are buying no discs at all, thats one movie for every three PS3 owners.

If it slows down any more than that, it won't be moving at all.


RE: lets not forget that..
By deeznuts on 4/26/2007 1:26:13 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
3 million PS3s worldwide, and only 1 million BD discs sold?
I'm not sure, but these are only Nielsen Videoscan numbers, so I don't think they are counting worldwide, just NA.


No surprises here
By TheTerl on 4/26/2007 9:49:08 AM , Rating: 3
All competing propaganda aside, I think this goes to show what most of us have been saying for a long time--neither format has annihilated the other, and it's likely going to be a long time before we have an undisputed successor to DVD.




RE: No surprises here
By oddity21 on 4/26/2007 11:30:53 AM , Rating: 2
Exactly.

In the meantime, millions upon millions of DVDs are sold every week. I can't claim to know how things are all around the globe, but here in my country there's absolutely no interest in these HD formats.


RE: No surprises here
By deeznuts on 4/26/2007 2:16:35 PM , Rating: 2
DVD won over DIVX way way before there were cheap players and mass adoption. not the same war, but still interesting.


RE: No surprises here
By Oregonian2 on 4/26/2007 2:32:53 PM , Rating: 2
I recall DIVX being quite late and DVD's to have already been popular. In any case, it seems that Circuit City is trying the same general media-rental idea over again with their deal with Napster I think it was. Wonder if they'll name it DIVX2.


Sony vs PS3 vs the world
By Shadowmaster625 on 4/26/2007 11:12:54 PM , Rating: 3
HD-DVD hardware is cheaper for the consumer, HD-DVD media is cheaper for the producer, and HD-DVD production costs are significantly cheaper.

Blu-Ray has more capacity, and of course the support of millions of PS3's.

Given the outrageous prices we dumbed down americans pay for things like broadband internet service, I am not surprised that the most economical format isnt winning just yet! Truth be told, I am shocked boo-ray is not outselling HD DVD by 5 to 1.

The capacity issue is a nonissue to the consumer. So it's basically a war between the cheap consumer mainstream, and the idiot PS3 fanbois who are willing to waste untold amounts of money. Gee I wonder who is going to win in the long run?!

Only people who like to waste money would support boo-ray at this point. Unfortunately, there are a LOT of those types of people out there!

Studio support is not a factor. The studios (aside from sony) will follow the money. Only Sony wont support both formats when standalone HD-DVD players get under $200. But even Sony will support both when HD-DVD players get under $100! It would be simply too much money for them to pass up!

The bottom line is that Sony needs to be taught a lesson for trying to use it's loyal base of gamers to push a less economical format onto the masses. The numbers don't lie. Sony is losing massive amounts of money trying to subsidize blu-ray. The tough competition from two successful consoles could end up costing them dearly. All because of blu-ray. They could have released the PS3 right along with the xbox360, had they gone with just a dvd drive. And things would be totally different now. There was no rational reason for them to delay. I hear talk about how some games need more than one disc. But so what. I loved FF7 and it was 3 discs. And with a hard drive what does it matter anyway? And hello, what about downloading additional content? duh. Come on. Sony screwed up and dropped the ball far worse than people are admitting. This is what I mean when I say it's Sony vs the PS3!




RE: Sony vs PS3 vs the world
By Axbattler on 4/27/2007 9:30:45 AM , Rating: 2
I've read that HD-DVD media is cheaper to produce before. That is nice.. if they did pass the cost back to the consumer. Is that really the case though? I do not have the impression that HD-DVD titles are cheaper, nor do I have the impression that blank HD-DVD media are cheaper per GB. Well, the battle is only has only started. Maybe HD-DVD will really come down in price faster than BD. But until I evidence of cheaper HD-DVD, I fail to see how the BD is the less sensible choice.