High Definition format war: Blu-ray is winning
It seems that Sony’s strategy of using PlayStation 3 as the spearhead of the Blu-ray market penetration strategy is somewhat succesfull. While PS3 sales may suffer slightly from the relatively high price, the launch of the console is caused that Blu-ray sales are stampeding over HD-DVD figures. A market analyst report shows that the USA Blu-ray content sales in January were 68% of the total HD movie market and has increased to 72% just one week later.
In Western Europe, Bottoms forecasted that by 2010 there will be some 115 million HDTV sets in use, but only around 17 million homes will have access to high definition (HD) broadcast services. “With consumers increasingly aware of the benefits of high definition but unable to access HDTV services, then the demand for pre-recorded HD media is bound to increase significantly,” said Bottoms.
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Bottoms also pointed to the launch of the Blu-ray enabled Playstation 3 in the US last November as an important market driver and he predicted a similar effect in Europe following PS3’s introduction last month.
Source: Electronics Weekly
