Home Media Magazine - February 24, 2008 - (Page 40) NEWS H IG H-DE F MAR KET S HAR E Blu-ray and HD DVD Sales Comparison as of 2/17/08 Week Ended 2/17 Year-to-Date I Blu-ray I HD DVD www.homemediamagazine.com BLU-RAY — SLOW AND STEADY WON THE RACE By Stephanie Prange Since Inception 27% 73% 76% 24% 65% 35% Source: Nielsen VideoScan: First Alert data While HD DVD was first to market with players and software in April 2006, steady sales of Blu-ray Discs following the November 2006 launch of Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 turned the tide from red to Blu. For the week ended Feb. 17, 2007, total Blu-ray Disc sales beat out HD DVD software sales for the first time since the inception of both formats, according to Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data, and it was an easy win for Blu-ray from then. Every week, Blu-ray outsold HD DVD on the software front, even after the high-profile defection of Paramount Home ANALYSIS Entertainment, which delivered DreamWorks’ hit Transformers to the HD DVD camp. The week ended Oct. 21 (the week Transformers was released), Blu-ray still held on to the top market share. For that week, Blu-ray Disc sales still accounted for 51% of the market versus 49% for HD DVD. That was as close as HD DVD came to beating Blu-ray in market share. In the following weeks, Blu-ray continued to lead, with the Warner Home Video Blu-ray exclusive move in January further tipping the scales in Blu-ray’s favor. According to data for the week ended Feb. 10, released days before Toshiba threw in the HD DVD towel, 81% of software sales were Blu-ray. Format War Ends After Wave of Defections Continued from page 1 Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality.” He added that Toshiba has no plans at this time to adopt Blu-ray. Toshiba will stop shipments of HD DVD players and recorders by March, and will stop production of HD DVD drives for computers as well. The company added it will continue to provide product support and services for current HD DVD owners. “Toshiba also intends to maintain collaborative relations with the companies who joined with Toshiba in working to build up the HD DVD market, including Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation, and major Japanese and European content providers on the entertainment side, as well as leaders in the IT industry, including Microsoft, Intel, and HP,” stated a press release. Within hours of the announcement, Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment, said his studio will join the Blu-ray camp. “While Universal values the close partnership we have shared with Toshiba, it is time to turn our focus to releasing new and catalog titles on Blu-ray,” Kornblau said. “The path for widespread adoption of the next-generation platform has finally become clear. … The emergence of a single, high-definition format is cause for consumers, as well as the entire entertainment industry, to celebrate.” Paramount Home Entertainment and DreamWorks Animation, which last fall abandoned their dual-format strategy and began releasing titles exclusively in HD DVD, rejoined the Blu-ray side as well. Paramount quietly came onboard via a statement sent exclusively to Home Media Magazine the day after Toshiba’s announcement. “We are pleased that the industry is moving to a single high-definition format, as we believe it is in the best interest of the consumer,” the statement read. No further details were given. Meanwhile, Onkyo Corp. said it will stop making HD DVD players immediately. The Japanese company had sold only about 2,000 of its HD DVD players. Because “Onkyo manufactures HD DVD players with core parts supplied by Toshiba, it will be difficult for Onkyo to continue its further development and production of HD DVD players,” the company said. Both Universal and Paramount have titles announced for HD DVD in the coming months. Universal’s American Gangster came out Feb. 19 on DVD and HD DVD. It’s unknown what the status of those releases is; sources say titles already manufactured will likely come out on HD DVD as planned, while the studios ramp up their Blu-ray Disc operations. Warner Home Video, which went exclusively Blu-ray in January, had planned on ending its HD DVD releases in May and has several titles in the pipeline. Warner executives were not available for comment by press time. Andy Parsons, the Pioneer Electronics SVP who doubles as chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association’s U.S. Promotions Committee, hailed Toshiba’s decision. “We in the Blu-ray Disc Association are very happy that this long format war is officially over,” he said. “Now the task ahead for our member companies is to promote the Blu-ray Disc format as the best way to bring premier quality high-definition content into consumers’ lives.” Retailers also expressed relief. Noah Herschman, director of audio and video for Amazon.com, said that while HD DVD players were among the retailer’s best sellers during the holidays, the format’s death will make things easier on customers. “Now that there is one format, we hope consumers embrace that,” he said. However, he added, high prices and short supply of Blu-ray players could be a problem. He said Amazon.com will continue to carry HD DVD products until “they’re no longer made,” and will be marketing its lowest-priced HD DVD player in stock, the HD-A3 ($109), as an “upconverting DVD player.” Best Buy spokesman Brian Lucas said the retailer’s decision on when to stop selling HD DVD products will be dictated by consumer demand. However, “at a certain point we’ll start pulling them from shelves,” he said. “From the beginning we thought the format war was not good for anyone,” he said. Microsoft sought to stem any potential fallout from the end of HD DVD on its Xbox 360 video game console, for which the company manufactured an HD DVD add-on. In its statement, Microsoft downplayed Xbox’s ability to play highdefinition movies, insisting, “As we’ve long stated, we believe it is games that sell consoles, and Xbox 360 continues to have the largest next-gen games library with the most exclusives and best-selling games in the industry.” Bo Andersen, president of the Entertainment Merchants Association, said Blu-ray’s victory is a relief for everyone in the industry. “Now that consumer confusion concerning dueling formats has ended, it is time for suppliers and retailers to redouble their efforts to bring home the message that Bluray Discs deliver the finest viewing experience for the world’s best entertainment,” he said. Thomas K. Arnold and Erik Gruenwedel contributed to this report. I RESPONDENTS’ LEVEL OF AWARENESS OF U.S. ANALOG TV CUTOFF COMING FEB. 17, 2009 I Very Aware 11% I Asking questions 6% I Need to learn 29% I First I’ve heard 39% I At least heard 15% n=1.266 Source: In-Stat 10/07 STUDY: 39% UNAWARE OF ANALOG TV SHUTDOWN By Erik Gruenwedel onsumer awareness of the Feb. 17, 2009 switch from over-theair analog TV transmission to digital continues to pose a challenge to broadcasters, the consumer electronics industry and the federal government, according to a new report. A survey of 1,266 consumers by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based In-Stat found nearly 40% of respondents were unaware of the pending transition. The finding mirrors similar third-party studies that state upwards of 16 million largely minority U.S. households will be without TV reception unless they purchase a digital converter or HDTV. The federal government is offering for a limited time $40 discount coupons toward the purchase of the $50 to $70 converter box to qualified consumers (www.dtvtransition.org). The study also found 40% of respondents owned an HDTV and 30% said they would cancel their cable subscription if they could get TV programming from the Internet. Tad Busts Out on DVD MVD Entertainment Group co-hosted a series of screenings of Busted Circuits and Ringing Ears. Pictured is Tad Doyle, whose band TAD is profiled in the music documentary, with one of the many attendees at the Feb. 19 Seattle screening. HOME MEDIA MAGAZINE (ISSN 1934-9882) is published weekly 51 times per year (weekly except for one week at the end of December) by Questex Media Group, Inc., 306 West Michigan Street, Suite 200, Duluth, MN 55802. Subscription rates: $49.99 for one year in the United States and Possessions; $79.99 for one year in Canada and Mexico; all other countries $99.99 for one year (by surface mail). 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