It may have taken manufacturers longer than many of us wanted, but the cost of standalone Blu-ray players is finally dropping -- but is it too late for the struggling HD format?

I'm not as pessimistic as other writers, and think Blu-ray will be around for years to come, but I'm curious to see how streaming services and similar technologies continue to derail Blu-ray sales.

Despite the fact that DVDs had a sales peak in 2005 and are now on the decline, according to the Digital Entertainment Group, the slower DVD sales haven't helped Sony and company sell Blu-ray players.

Hollywood was pleased when the Blu-ray version of “The Dark Knight” sold a whopping 1.7 million units in its first week, though the sales numbers weren't even close to the 11.8 million DVD units sold of the same movie.

As standalone Blu-ray players continue to get streaming Netflix ability, it should be interesting to see if consumers purchase Blu-ray players for streaming only.  In a statement issued in July, Netflix CFO Barry McCarthy publicly said that less than 10 percent of Netflix subscribers were renting Blu-ray titles.

Earlier in the year, both Parks Associates and Jupiter Research reduce their forecast for standalone Blu-ray player sales -- Park Associates reduced its forecast down to 4.3 million in the global market and 2.2 million in the U.S. alone.

Despite the lowered forecast, it seems Blu-ray sales are better than expected in Europe and the U.K., with consumers in the U.K. in November purchasing 165 percent increase of Blu-ray movies over the month of October.

Several Blu-ray players, along with TiVo, Roku and the Microsoft Xbox 360, have the ability to stream content through Netflix, and Blockbuster also has its own set-top box designed so customers can stream content through the living room.  Microsoft repeatedly stuck its nose at the Sony-created Blu-ray format, instead stating streaming content is the more important technology to focus on.

It's likely other Blu-ray players will also receive streaming Netflix capability in the future.

Will 2009 finally be the year of Blu-ray?  With CES kicking off in the beginning of the year, manufacturers will show off their latest Blu-ray technology, and with prices expecting to decline further, maybe Sony and others will be able to convince consumers to jump on the HD  bandwagon.

It should be interesting to see what happens to Blu-ray in the next year -- and how manufacturers will try to help persuade us to purchase Blu-ray.