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Blu-ray has always been fighting against the tide, struggling against high prices, general reluctance to move on from DVDs, and now the “credit crunch” as well.  In fact, many people were beginning to think that the victory against HD-DVD may have been in vain due to the apparent lack of consumers, and that the aim of 5 million units to be sold this year was laughable.  However it would appear that both parties are in the process of being proved wrong with figures released by Sony showing some interesting truths.

Let’s take a look at how its predecessor is doing; it would appear that people are sticking to DVD in a way similar to how people stuck to VHS.  147 million DVD recorders/players were sold last year, which is still a massive amount (it is the same as half of America buying one).

However give credit where credit’s due, Sony has done very well (considering people’s reluctance to change plus the worsening economic climate) with the predicted end of year sales figure of 4.5 million units.  Admittedly, this is 30 times less than DVD players sold, but that is only around 10% off—not bad. 

But why are they not selling as well as they could be?  The main root cause has to be money and this is a threefold problem.  Not only do the actual Blu-ray players cost a significant amount (a lot more than their DVD counterparts) but the actual BDs can cost up to twice as much as a DVD.  This price falls into insignificance when you consider how much it would cost for the people who have to convert to a HDTV, as very few people are going to upgrade from their one year old flat screen LCD for $2000.  Couple this large cost with people’s “attachment” to DVDs and their unwillingness to spend money like in previous years then you will see this is a big problem for Blu-ray, although not one that is unsolvable. 

The cost of Blu-ray players is very likely to fall and this is most likely to happen after Thanksgiving to make the most of the run up to Christmas.  You could well see players at $150 next month, which should help to boost sales dramatically.  Movie studios are also under pressure to reduce prices and that may also encourage rental shops to start stocking more Blu-ray discs which will boost awareness as well as sales.

Source [GizmodoUK]

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