Forrester research: Blu-ray wins?
Market researchers of Forrester are placing their bets on Blu-ray in the HD formats war. Their analysts have also come to the conclusion that PlayStation 3 plays an integral part in the format war, as PS3 is expected to start selling with a lot higher volumes than the expensive HD-DVD or Blu-ray stand-alone players do. If Sony can meet their expectations of 6M PS3’s sold by the middle 0f 2007, there are 6M Blu-ray players on the market and that is something that the HD-DVD camp has nothing to match with.
When it comes to movies, Blu-ray has the advantage. Sony, Fox, Disney, and MGM will be releasing titles only in Blu-ray. In contrast, Universal Pictures is the only major studio banking on HD DVD. Warner and Paramount will be supporting both formats. Although the difference isn’t that large now, Forrester believes that down the line, the difference in the amount of content available for both formats will help tip the scales Blu-ray’s way.Along with the number of movies available for each format, Forrester is tracking four other metrics it believes will tell the story on which format will win the battle. Console sales are one key to that equation, with Sony using the PlayStation 3 as another beachhead in the next-gen format wars. Strong sales of the PS3 would bode well for Blu-ray’s long-term outlook, and if Sony is able to meet its projections of 6 million PS3s sold by the middle of 2007, the blue laser format should be in a better position than it would be otherwise.
Source: Arstechnica
