HD DVD/Blu-ray Format War In Perpetual Stalemate, Dual Format Players To Win In The End

According to Tom Adams, president of Adams Media Research, movie studios will eventually have to release their titles on both HD DVD and Blu-ray as "no studio will be able to afford not to". Apparently, the majority of HDTV owners are perfectly happen with standard DVD and the availability of upscaling DVD players could mean that high-def disc players may never be a mainstream product, but rather emerge as more of a luxury item. Here are some interesting format war facts:

1. 578, 000 standalone HD DVD players and 370, 000 standalone Blu-ray players will be sold by the end of 2007

2. If a winner is eventually decided, it could very likely be decided by which camp offers more content

3. Upscaling DVD players cut into sales for both camps dramatically

4. Research by the NPD Group has found that only 11% of HDTV owners intend to purchase a high-def disc player by spring 2008 and 75% are content with standard DVD

5. High-def disc players may "emerge as a premium, luxury item, not a successor to DVD"

6. Forecasts indicate that 5 million laptops will be sold with HD DVD players by the end of 2008

7. 3.4 million Blu-ray drives have been sold with PS3's, 300, 000 HD DVD drives have been sold with the XBox 360

8. 400 movie titles are offered by both camps, 90, 000 are offered by Netflix

9. Blu-ray discs outsell HD DVD discs 2 to 1

10. 70% of Blockbuster HD disc rentals are in the Blu-ray format

11. HD DVD believes users want interactivity in movies, research states otherwise: only 3% of users actually want interactive features

12. As the price of dual format players drop, we'll see studios pull away from their respective sides and a truce will emerge

Will a truce eventually take place with studios releasing movies on both disc formats? Will the much criticized dual format player eventually be the "format" of choice? Will high-def disc players disappear altogether with standard DVD being the real winner in the end? What do you think?

Via New York Times
Image Credit: Gary Gardener/Bloomberg News

December 31, 2007

HD DVD/Blu-ray Format War In Perpetual Stalemate, Dual Format Players To Win In The End