Will 2010 (Finally) Be Blu-ray's Year?
A year ago, I wrote a similar Blu-ray blog with a nearly identical title--simply swap out "2009" for "2010." At the time, sales of Blu-ray players had been disappointing, although falling hardware and disc prices were inspiring some analysts to predict a brighter '09 for the high-def movie format.
A year has passed, and Blu-ray's outlook has improved--although its long-term outlook remains murky. According to a new study by Home Media Research, revenue from Blu-ray disc sales for the week ending November 29, 2009--yes, the all-important Black Friday week--was $69.06 million, up a gaudy 224 percent from the same period a year earlier. DVD disc sales for that week, however, totaled $491.10 million, down 7.89 percent from '08. Shorthand: Blu-ray up, DVD down.
The numbers reveal a lot. The solid rise in Blu-ray disc sales shows that consumers are finally migrating to the slow-to-catch-on HD format. On the other hand, DVD, despite its slight sales decline, remains the dominant physical disc format for the home entertainment market.
