Blu-ray sales dominate HD war in Europe

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 28th 2007 at 7:30PM }

The PS3 may finally be getting around to being a good game console, but there's no denying it's been a great Blu-ray player since the beginning. Sony Europe released figures that 73% of high-def movie sales on the continent were Blu-ray. Sony says the "turning point" in Blu-ray movie sales, which they now say average two to five times the amount of HD-DVD sales weekly, was the release of the PS3.

Blu-ray has been having a pretty solid year in the US as well. It's certainly interesting to note how comparatively small the high-def movie market must be if the lowest selling console in the video game market makes such a massive impact.

Tags: blu-ray, bluray, hddvd, sony

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

gonk @ Nov 28th 2007 7:37PM

did they even have blueray before ps3?

Anonim @ Nov 28th 2007 7:49PM

73%?
If I was counting bundled BR disc sold with PS3 - Casino Royale, Spiderman sure...

The Axel Music (Europe) numbers are:

As Of 11/23: Week: BD 57.9, HD 42.1 Month: BD 50.8, HD 49.2 YTD: BD 47.0, HD 53.0
As Of 11/16: Week: BD 52.6, HD 47.4 Month: BD 45.5, HD 54.5 YTD: BD 47.8, HD 52.2
As Of 11/09: Week: BD 52.1, HD 47.9 Month: BD 41.1, HD 58.9 YTD: BD 48.0, HD 52.0
As Of 11/02: Week: BD 41.1, HD 58.9 Month: BD 35.4, HD 64.6 YTD: BD 48.3, HD 51.7

I don't see those 73% in disc sales...

EDGE @ Nov 28th 2007 8:02PM

Well, the Nielson numbers tell me all I need to know, and that is: Blu-Ray > HD DVD

ColossalHat @ Nov 28th 2007 8:05PM

Is that so Anonim?
http://www.axelmusic.dk/

Check the left-most column of the window, below where it says Blu-ray disc and HD-DVD. There's a box that says format war. Those numbers disagree with those you've put forth.

Vidikron (FU) @ Nov 28th 2007 8:10PM

@Anonim

Are you the same guy as ""anonim1979" on Xbox-Scene that's likes to post in the PS3 section and attempt to discredit the PS3 every chance you get?

hemmy @ Nov 28th 2007 8:14PM

@Anonim:

Sales at Axel Music do not count as sales within the European HD market. They have a fraction of the import market. Their figures might be useful to analyse import trends, perhaps, but not really.

Ordeith @ Nov 28th 2007 8:39PM

They are counting Blu-Ray disc sales, which include PS3 games.
Whatever it takes to stack the deck I suppose.

Vidikron (FU) @ Nov 28th 2007 8:43PM

@Ordeith

No it's not. Read the article again. The percentages given are only for HD movie sales. The point about they are making about the games is that the production of PS3 games on BR is helping to lower the cost of producing BR discs. They are NOT being included in the movie sales numbers.

Dave @ Nov 28th 2007 10:04PM

@EDGE

The Nielson numbers told you that? Here are some other assumptions you can make based on numbers:

Bush > Gore
Coors > Westvleteren Abt 12
Trip to Work > Trip to Vegas
PS2 > PS3
blinking > sex

All present-day Blu-Ray players are profile 1.0. They won't be able to play 1.1 or 2.0-specific features like PiP or Internet extras. All HD DVD players can do PiP and Internet connectivity right now. If it wasn't for the PS3, Blu-Ray would just be another dead Sony format. All they did was leverage, and in some ways trade, their success in the video game market. Sometimes I think they release crappy games on purpose so PS3 users will get bored and buy another Blu-Ray movie.

Anonim @ Nov 28th 2007 10:17PM

@ColossalHat
Those page you give has only
DK - Denmark
sales.

The numbers I gave are for Europe, not ONE country...

ColossalHat @ Nov 29th 2007 4:17AM

In that case, link us to your magic numbers oh great and powerful Anonim.

Jake @ Nov 29th 2007 9:02AM

Not to complicate this debate, but HD-DVD players are $200 with 7 movies right now and nearly the entire US stock of Toshiba A2's seem to be sold out. The A3's are selling like crazy too. And, Transformers and Shrek 3 are only on HD-DVD. More PC's are adopting HD-DVD than bluray so far.

Just saying that the "war" isn't necessarily over. Neither player has secured a share large enough to mean anything. 95% of the market has yet to switch.

Extinction @ Nov 29th 2007 6:37PM

"More PC's are adopting HD-DVD than bluray so far"

NO PCs are adopting HD DVD. All Sony PCs are adopting bluray, same for Apple. And there are PC Bluray burners available. There aren't any for HD DVD.

ShortFuse @ Nov 28th 2007 7:38PM

Though I know BluRay will likely win here and will be the HD disc of choice, I'm still holding out on PS3 until they package the DualShock3 in it. No point in getting it now if the SixAxis will be discontinued. Also, since there aren't enough good titles on it.

mike @ Nov 28th 2007 7:39PM

thats because the ps3 is a blu-ray player first and video game console second. Its still the cheapest blu-ray player to buy. Whats shameful about the ps3 is that its sold the least of the 3 consoles and probably half of what it has sold is people buying it for a blu-ray player. Im even going to buy one for blu-ray. (Waiting for it to be $299)

ShortFuse @ Nov 28th 2007 7:41PM

People, read it again. This is not talking about hardware sales (bdplayers), this talking about movie sales (the discs themselves).

Evan @ Nov 28th 2007 7:49PM

Disc sales depend on the number of players out there. I bet if the 360 included an HD DVD drive (built-in), HD DVD would be out-selling Blu-Ray. Of course, then the 360 would have been $599, and struggling like the PS3 did at that price.

ill trooper @ Nov 29th 2007 12:15AM

"I bet if the 360 included an HD DVD drive (built-in), HD DVD would be out-selling Blu-Ray."

But it didn't.

LiquidD @ Nov 28th 2007 7:44PM

This is the dumbest "war" evah!! lol

But seriously, it is.

gonk @ Nov 28th 2007 7:51PM

i agree

i won't have a hd player until all tv's are hd's only and the movies are down as cheap as dvd's currently are ($15 or so)

Gohan @ Nov 28th 2007 7:45PM

it's already finished that stupid format war the ps3 make a good help for that and it's worked very well

dvnt @ Nov 28th 2007 7:46PM

Just wondering how this relates to gaming? Just because a PS3 can play movies doesn't make movie sales relevant to gaming. Sorry for complaining, just sick seeing all of the Blu-Ray vs HDDVD crap.

ShortFuse @ Nov 28th 2007 7:48PM

For who on the fence about whether or not to get PS3.
A BluRay player might be something they'd want.

ColossalHat @ Nov 28th 2007 7:51PM

Here's a solution to your problem, when you start to read a headline that has the word blu-ray in it, scroll up or down on the page. I don't go into topics that don't interest me in the slightest (generally Wii topics) and say Joystiq should stop posting that kind of news. Deal with it bub.

Anywho, Blu-ray eh? That's quite the commanding lead it's got.

Silent Xenocide @ Nov 28th 2007 7:55PM

Ok so now I know I should get a blue ray player for my SD TV.

Lianne @ Nov 28th 2007 7:56PM

I'm not sure how much I trust any statistics at all without knowing exactly how they're measured, but I heard that in the rental market (Netflix) HD DVD is more popular. So it's possible people who have Blu Ray players tend to buy more, and people who have HD DVD players tend to rent more.

Ethan @ Nov 28th 2007 7:58PM

Oh smeg, it does look like Blu-Ray's winning. But I was kind of hoping HD-DVD would win, mainly because DVD forum > Blu Ray Association.

B1gC72 @ Nov 28th 2007 8:11PM

wow. what a completely uncalled for PS3 shot. thought this was Joystiq not 360fanboy...

but either way, Sony does look like they will actually win a format war.....huh, guess thats a shot at Sony too lol. oh well, PSWii ftw!

gonk @ Nov 28th 2007 8:19PM

a positive article about blueray is a shot at sony?

toLkKi @ Nov 28th 2007 8:23PM

I bet he's feeling retarded right about now.

Vidikron (FU) @ Nov 28th 2007 8:26PM

I think he's referring to the last sentence. Not only does it take a shot directly at the PS3's sales, it's a backhanded shot aimed at downplaying the significance of the BR lead. It's rather obvious.

jsn @ Nov 28th 2007 8:45PM

it's years from being decided, don't be convinced otherwise by early numbers from a VERY niche product. realistically the market can support two formats if the players are cheap enough.

Vidikron (FU) @ Nov 28th 2007 8:48PM

@jsn

That may be true, but they still took a shot at the PS3, I think that was the guy's point.

Either way, I think you're wrong about being able to support two formats. The public won't stand for that if most of the movie studios continue to support one format or the other. They will want access to all the movies just as they now have with DVD. The only way that will work is if dual format players become the norm and cheap.

gonk @ Nov 28th 2007 11:09PM

that last sentence was true

Vidikron (FU) @ Nov 28th 2007 11:24PM

@gonk

Which changes what the first guy said how? The point was they unnecessarily put an anti-PS3 spin on the news item. Which you then tried to claim wasn't there. I can't be any more clear than that.

B1gC72 @ Nov 29th 2007 1:09AM

come on guys. i was referring to the last sentence obviously. didnt really think i needed to clarify that. i said it because this is the site that's supposed to be unbiased and just report, they have other sites for the biased post. it's not good journalism to be so biased. if he said that on 360fanboy i would have absolutely no problem with it, i just get irritated at Joystiq sometimes cause they throw out flame bait (to generate traffic) when that belongs on the fanboy sites. hell we all know PS3 is dead last, but was that really relevant to the post? we could all infer that last statement anyway so it didnt really need to be said. i guess my point is that we dont need flame bait to start our fanboy arguments, we do it anyway.

maybe im being a little picky but whatever. thats like 360 fans getting upset at the occasional RRoD shots or Wii with the duct tape and graphics thing. i take this fanboy stuff to heart dammit lol.

rTwelve @ Nov 29th 2007 1:10AM

OMG OMG they insulted my console! i'm gonna go CRY

Greg2k @ Nov 28th 2007 8:26PM

This is most notorious in Spain. I'm sorry, WHERE IS TOSHIBA??!! You see Sony marketing the crap out of their FullHD line, with Blu-Ray road-side boards all the way to my university.

I have not seen a single HD-DVD ad in Spain. EVER. And there's no HD-DVD burner for PC here, yet nearly every big store has been selling HD-DVDR media for at least 4 months, which is retarded at best.

Not to mention what the story mentions, MOVIES. I've been very unsuccessful in finding a healthy ammount of HD-DVDs here, when Blu-Rays are aplenty.

Toshiba, for the love of God, DO SOMETHING.

HighFiveJesus @ Nov 28th 2007 10:40PM

So you basically want the gap to close to a more 50/50? Because that really sucks, the longer it takes to off one of the formats, the longer we have to wait to get a safe investment.

Or are you just an avid HD DVD supporter?

Dave @ Nov 29th 2007 2:35AM

Safe investment? No current Blu-Ray players are guaranteed to be profile 2.0 compatible--not even the PS3. Right now, Blu-Ray players can't do PiP or Internet connected extras. HD DVD does...all players...right now. Oh, and it's a lot cheaper--which, to me, translates directly into "safer".

Disclaimer: I'm an avid HD DVD supporter.

Greg2k @ Nov 29th 2007 5:10AM

Yeah, I'm an HD-DVD supporter, so that's why I'm ticked off. I don't know if it counts because I don't have a player or media for either format, but I was hoping a finalized spec such as HD-DVD would win.

If Blu-Ray ultimately wins, it's not like I'm going to care TOO much, but hey, it would be nice if it didn't win.

kilodelta @ Nov 28th 2007 8:36PM

man, when is digital distribution just gonna become the norm and wipe out these formats?

ColossalHat @ Nov 28th 2007 8:44PM

When the entire world has 400-500 Mbps internet connections and when download speeds are always between 3-4 Gigs per second. Let's also not forget the fact that you'd need hard drives for everything that plays movies.

So to answer your question, not until you can manage to bankrupt all the companies that press DVDs, HD-DVDs, and Blu-ray discs.

Tom @ Nov 28th 2007 8:49PM

"man, when is digital distribution just gonna become the norm and wipe out these formats?"

When your local cable company loses its iron grip on the market, resulting in competition with FiOS providers that forces bandwidth to increase while driving subscription prices down.