Nielson VideoScan data for last week reports that Blu-ray has topped its high definition rival for yet another week - this time with a very impressive 72.6% market share. The sales data includes titles sold on Black Friday - the day after Thanksgiving characterized by deep discounts and enormous amounts of consumer spending.
Possibly leading the pack was Fox's Blu-ray release of 'Live Free or Die Hard' - the latest installment in the "Die Hard" franchise. Early reports show that the title managed to sell nearly 100,000 units last week alone.
Blu-ray has yet to lose a week to its rival this year, with Blu-ray holding a 2-to-1 average sales advantage. Achieving a nearly 3-to-1 sales advantage for the important shopping week despite an influx of sub-$100 HD DVD players shows that consumers continue to choose Blu-ray as their preferred high definition format.
This during amazon's BOGO sale of hd dvds, and Walmart's $14.96 hd dvd sale too.
Soon retailers will grow tired of players that net them almost no profit and movies that only sell well if they are theatrical mega-hits.
This must make the red camp pretty blue.
Why is it the HD-DVD Group and their delusional followers refuse to accept that they can't possibly win? No one wants trash subpar players for $99 regardless of of bad the economy or the U.S. dollar is doing right now.
Wow. Josh if you guys get the data early every week...that's not fair!! Maybe if you make it a news item confirming blu-ray's sales strength every week from now on (which I think looks likely)?
HD-DVD fan: "Wow, we sold 90,000 HD-DVD players in one weekend. Think how much that'll boost our sales."
Blu-ray fan: "Well, it didn't seem to help much. Blu-ray won the week almost 3 to 1."
HD-DVD fan: "Son of a -----"
Nielsen estimates Walmart's sales that is how they are able to refute total sales #'s for any given title, ala Transformers on hd dvd. Walmart doesn't tell them how many they sell, but distributors give Nielsen enough info that they can make a very close approximation.
WOOT! The war is over everyone! There is no way that HD-DVD can catch up! In USA, we are at 3-
1, in UK it is 4-1 in Japan, it is 9-1... COME ON!!!! When will HD-DVD just give up, save face, and
release to Blu-ray?
I wouldn't say I chose BD because I wanted the best. I think HD-DVD has alot to offer, but the DD+/capacity issue is troubling. I chose BD because when I started shopping around I saw who was backing them and what kind of sales leads they had. I'm glad I'm on this side and I can't wait to see BD evolve with the upcoming profiles.
wohoo i knew i was right when i chose blu ray its only a matter of time before warner dumps hd dvd
and goes blu same with universal let the good times roll
Nice big slap in the face of the "with player prices so Low HD DVD will catch up in software sales".
Not even close. time to wrap it up and limit the amount of damage on the end user side Toshiba, you can still save the face by not screwing too many of your potential customers...
Wow, Blu-ray has really grown up and developed as everyone's favorite, poor HD-Dud's, i used to like the format war while it lasted, now that Blu won lets celebrate and get the Movie buying party started... Go Blu...
Once again Quality wins over (so called) quantity. I thought HD DVD sold over 750 000 players. Are the owners buying any movies or are they using it for target practice?
Sound great to me and we still have some more great movies on the way in the next few
weeks. It will be intresting to see what happends when HD and BLU RAY go head to head
with Harry Potter.
I'm not buying Harry Potter right now. Harry Potter has more extra features on HD DVD but Blu Ray will likely pull off the upset once again like they did with 300. I hope Warner waits a little longer for the next BD profile 1.1 till they finally release The Matrix trilogy and Batman Begins so we don't have to get ripped off like we always do.
i think if harry potter on blu-ray outsells hd-dvd (lol i really dont see hd-dvd winning period) that might be a little bit more of a push for warner to make a decision. i will def buy them to help blu but also because i enjoyed the movies. also back to the topic of the thread awesome job everyone on buyin blu on blu friday, i as well purchased 5 movies that day! keep up the good work guys
Warner is the only studio that's delaying Blu rays inevitable victory. Those Paramount and Universal titles are no so appealing at all and they don't have many blockbusters or fan favorites like Blu ray does.
I was expecting a Blu victory, but not by that much!! I guess that's what happens when your format pretty much has NO good exclusives coming out, unlike the Blu boys... And when I was in BB during Black Friday, I saw many people carrying a shiney new 40GB PS3 by the handle. Way to go, Blu-ray.
very nice. I know I got my father a Blu-ray player and movies for Christmas, and my sister and her husband (they are a young couple) a 80GB PS3 with games and movies for Christmas. Very nice. Hey, when is borat coming out to Blu?
The main reason for the defeat of HD DVD is that major films like die hard 4, harry potter, POTC are coming on BD....other than that, PS3 has had a price drop and is also geting exclsives like Ratchet and Clank TOD, Uncharted, UT3 in dec, Warhawk, Heavenly Sword and more.....plus games like COD4 and Haze (delayed) are forcing many 360 owners to reconsider their choices and adopt PS3 as the next gen console. 2008 is even better because PS3 is going to have Haze, MGS4, DMC4, GT 5, FF 13, and prob GOW3..........PS3 sales are important, because PS3 is the highest selling hi def player in the market right now......PS3s are also a great choice for home theater systems.
"Warner is the only studio that's delaying Blu rays inevitable victory. Those Paramount and Universal titles are no so appealing at all and they don't have many blockbusters or fan favorites like Blu ray does. "
I hate to say it but I think the new Indiana Jones comes out next year....prolly with a box set of oldies too, it would be hilarious if even Indy can't beat Blu. On the topic, this is going to get worse next month jeez.... What does HDDVD have next month? Bourne Ultimatum...... That's it. Oh, and Old School. We have too much to list. Whatever. You dont wat to see Blu when he's angry. BLU SMAAAASH!!!!
Indiana Jones, along with EVERY OTHER Steven Spielberg movie, will NOT be HD-DVD! Unfortunately, Spielberg seems to be the only director with this power, but he has INSISTED that all his titles be released on Blu-Ray only!
Yes! Screw you Microsoft. Sorry I had to say that, anyway on a more intelligent less fanatic basis I am glad to see such strong support despite the competition lowballing them selves just to imporve install base. I really hope this is one of the final nails in the wars coffin and that Warner and universal are reading this, it's time to jump ship anf force this war to end.
Great news!!! I'm glad I was smart enough to choose Blu! Actually, you don't have to be smart to know BD is the winning and ultimate format. All you have to do is smell the air!
HD-DVD it wasn't good knowing you. I hope this is getting closer to the end, HD-DVD can't do much more than to just give away everything basically for free. HD-DVD is half ass technology like it was stated by Sony's President. Their movies are garbage and I can only think about owning about 15-20 movies from them tops. Toshiba just save face and manufacture more PS3 parts and make some money from that since you won't be able to make any money on HD-DVD. It is the new "Betamax" face it.
Think about this too, if we can keep this up, it's not that unexpected we could have a 4-1 sales ratio. going from 2:1 to 3:1 requires us to gain 7.33 percentage points, and from 3:1 to 4:1 only requires a 5 percentage point gain. Who knows, maybe next week that will happen. GO BLU!
@john_nemesh - Spielberg demanded that Paramount titles not be HD-only, but that they be released on both formats, Blu-exclusive, or none at all. Although he doesn't seem to mind about Close Encounters being Blu-exclusive!
Paramount has got to be kicking themselves. I'm sure the whole HD-DVD plan sounded good in that board room when they were being offered the 150 mill. Still was a good move on paper for Paramount no one can tell the future.
Toshiba: We're going to be selling $99 dollar players this November to turn the tide of the battle that's a lot of copies of Transformers, Sweeney Todd, and Spiderwick Chronicles you can sell.
MS: And we're prepared to offer you 150 million for HD-DVD exclusivity
Toshiba: All you have to do is sign here and initial here
Paramount: Well since you put it that way.
I hope they were smart enough to negotiate an early out clause with Microsoft and Toshiba. Maybe they can give back a portion of the money to go Blu again.
Guys this is good news indeed and most welcome. but lets not get ahead of ourselves here, this war isn't over until we the customers can help put an end to it. so im asking you all my fellow blu ray soldiers, to buy more warner and new line cinema films this Christmas. we must force those two studios to go blu ray exclusive by the end of this year. And this can be only possible if we their sales up. bottom line if we can get both warner and new line cinema to go blu ray exclusive than this war would indeed be over. And the prophecy should be fulfill, than we can all live better knowing that films such rush hour and the golden compass along with the harry porter and lord of the ring collection won't be going to the HD-DVD format. please lets take the time and make a special petition asking these two studios to stay solely on blu ray's side. than we can all relax and watch paramount follow suit.
now all blu ray has to overcome is bourne ultimun, but i guess blu ray will have a few movies of their own as well, lets not forget RE extinction , saw 4, super bad, Pirate of the Caribbean at worlds end. and of course sometime next year we will have a few more from fox like hitmat, and AVP requiem. a few from lionsgate in punisher and rambo remake. spider-man 4, and underworld rise of the lycans from sony. MGM of course will as well have a few of their own and Disney will keep on trucking all the way with their heavy ads.
I just finally made the jump to up to hi-def with BR. Can't wait untill this silly format war is over. Just ask Circuit City and the people who bought Divx players, it sucks to choose the wrong one to back.
this is just a glimpse of what is to come by xmas time.....hell, most of all that bought was for some xmas presents and I didnt even see any good sales on blu rays anywhere
This should finally woo warner over to blu. But it is not over till its over, We should make all our friends give us blu for Xmas even if they don't yet know what it is. I am doing that, the only gift I want is blu ray this year. Friends can do more then just one going solo to kick up sales
I agree it's over until the fat lady sings!!(wait, is it a line form ID? Damn!) That ID being put off is something they would hold onto to let this news aside. As if it were possible.
In a recent trip to Wally-Mart to look for some blu-ray titles gave me even more hope! They have a 4 sided rack for ALL their HD movies. Blu-Ray occupies 3 of the 4 sides leaving HD-Dud only one side. I think part of the reason for sales of blu-ray is that those who buy blu-ray are willing to pay for the better product and also are not seeking out the cheepest deal to save money. Those buying the $99 HD-DVD players are obvioustly out for the bargain and are probably not willing to shell out 25-30 bucks per movie.
When Harry Potter hits Blu I'm going to buy like 5 extra Warner Bros movies just to let them know warner going to blu exclusivly won't end this war the people will end it
HD-DUD followers do not belong in the cyberpunk world.
This is getting ridiculous! 3-1 is stupid! Ive been supporting Bluray since 2004 when I purchesed BDR discs in Tokyo just to have them before everyone else in the states. Im so happy that this war is close to over, I can rub it in a few peoples face that are die hrd HD Dud supporters. Go Blu, Go Blu!
The most interesting thing about this whole thing is the Wal-Mart factor which supposedly accounts for 40% of all DVD/Hi-Def DVD's (BD and HD) in America. These numbers were not included in the Nielsen sales numbers. One would think it would help out the HD camp because of the blow-out $99 sales on HD-DVD players, right? Check this out:
This sorts out all Hi-Def players according to the TOP SELLERS. Blu-Ray wins yet again... And to think how nervous I was getting when they announced all those players being sold.... MUHAHAHA
Now I can finally consolidate my movies to ONE format, damn it!
I notice there's NO mention of sales on the HD-DVD Digest site. I'll bet Paramount is crying in their
quickly-evaporating pile of sell-out cash. Imagine all the sales they'll lose out on for another YEAR.
'scuse me while I go download some illegal Paramount titles off the web -
Wow, I hate to burts anyone's bubble here but I actually work at a major retail store and on Black Friday the HD-DVD players out sold the Blu-ray players by at least five to one. And, they were outselling them before as well....and after. Why? Price of course. People just aren't going to buy a $399 high def player when they can buy one for $199 sitting right next to it that does essentially the exact same thing. Sure, those with more money then they know what to do with might, but 99.5% of the population doesn't fit that demographic. I personally don't care who wins the "format war" as I think it was a mistake for there ever to even be a "war" in the first place (can you say VHS vs. Betamax all over again? Dumb.), but anyone that thinks that Blu-ray is soundly out selling HD-DVD is just sticking their head in the sand here and not paying any attention to reality at the retail level.
Think I'm wrong? Walk into ANY major electronics retailer in the US and ask a sales rep which format they sell more of in a week....then ask them to tell you why. Until the Blu-ray camp gets the message that they can't be $200 over the price of their nearest competitor and expect the average consumer to understand why, they are going to continue to be soundly outsold at the retail level. Sorry guys, but that is just simple consumer economics. You don't have to spend much time working in the retail world to understand that more than any other single factor, price moves product. I don't see that changing any time soon either. Easy math.
"...not paying attention to reality at the retail level."
Mike, the Nielsen numbers and multiple reports show otherwise. Simple consumer electronics on the macro (world-wide) level is showing, at worst a 2.5:1 ratio against HD DVD in terms of software sales. In Europe its higher and in Japan its 9:1.
Simple consumer economics also states that in order for a product to be viable, it must be profitable. Toshiba has so MASSIVELY undercut their own hardware margins in hopes of recouping on the software side that no other CE Co. wants anything to do with building HD DVD players. See above about software sales. Is Toshiba trying to disrupt adoption of the next gen of physical media so that it doesn't really take hold and digital DL happen that much quicker? Sure is a possibility, being partners/in bed with MS.
Blu-ray is soundly outselling HD-DVD. Retail reality is this: PS3s/Blu-ray players together are saturating faster than XBOX HD DVD add-ons/HD-DVD players and Blu-ray support and sales are in favor of the BDA. That means more revenue for Blu-ray supporters. Retail reality is that retailers gravitate to the greater revenues.
Hey Mike...if it will make you feel better, I'll do this for you...if you can come up with $200 (the price of cheap upconvert DVD player with average sound and picture qualities...otherwise known as HD-DVD player), I will spring the rest so you can buy a PS3 that can play next gen games and play superior BRay Discs...okay? Feel better now?
gdabi wrote "The most interesting thing about this whole thing is the Wal-Mart factor which supposedly accounts for 40% of all DVD/Hi-Def DVD's (BD and HD) in America. These numbers were not included in the Nielsen sales numbers. One would think it would help out the HD camp because of the blow-out $99 sales on HD-DVD players, right? Check this out:
This sorts out all Hi-Def players according to the TOP SELLERS. Blu-Ray wins yet again... And to think how nervous I was getting when they announced all those players being sold.... MUHAHAHA
Now I can finally consolidate my movies to ONE format, damn it! "
The "Top seller" ranking was for on-line sales only. The specials were in store only. So, this does not paint the true picture. Also, it's a given that PS3 would get top sales ranking over HD DVD players. Not sure on this one, but the top ranking could also be over the life of sales and not just over the last few months.
How is Toshiba and Universal making any money? Toshiba is losing big time on the hardware and neither is making it up on the software because they're giving it away free.
Regardless of whether or not the top sellers on the website refer only to the website itself or include store data (which they probably do not) is immaterial. The point is that Wal-Mart is supposed to be HD-DVD's saving grace/knight in shining armor from ALL fronts. This shows that despite all of Wal-Mart's HD flag-waving, they are still unable to make it their top seller everywhere.
As for the inclusion of the PS3, it would make sense that it would sell more than a stand-alone HD -DVD player, but then how do you account for the stand-alone Blu-Ray player ranking above the HD?
Gdabi,
If Walmart keeps more HD DVD players, in stock, then people are gettign them at the stores. The fact that they don't keep a lot of BR players in stock in their stores, means if you want one, you have to get it on the web.
This is similar to Blockbuster. "In Store" Blockbuster DB rentals are 100% / HD DVD is 0%. But, Over the web, they still offer HD DVD.
It's possible that on the Web, BR sold 33,000 units and HD DVD sold 20,000. But in Stores, it could be HD DVD, 90,000 and BR 15,000.
Of course these numbers are just made up to prove a point. The point is that on-line ranking doesn't mean a lot if you don't know the actual numbers.
Nielson VideoScan data for last week reports that Blu-ray has topped its high definition rival for yet another week - this time with a very impressive 72.6% market share. The sales data includes titles sold on Black Friday - the day after Thanksgiving characterized by deep discounts and enormous amounts of consumer spending.
Maybe if you make it a news item confirming blu-ray's sales strength every week from now on (which I think looks likely)? 
