Sales of Blu-ray titles have begun to have a measurable impact on the sales figures of standard DVDs, especially since the demise of the HD-DVD format, the non defunct high definition disc format. The recently release “No Country For Old Men” (Walt Disney Home Entertainment) has seen 9.8 percent of overall disc sales in the emerging Blu-ray format according to Nielsen VideoScan statistics. “Hitman” from 20th Century Fox released at the same time scored even higher Blu-ray sales with 12.6 percent of overall disc sales.
“That one hit the sweet spot,” said Steve Feldstein, SVP of marketing and corporate communications for Fox. “It’s a great action title that looks beautiful in high-def — and it’s right in the crosshairs of Blu-ray’s target demographic of young adult males.” This recent sales surge seems to coincide with the recent victory of Blu-ray over HD-DVD in the recently concluded format war.
Home entertainment industry analyst Tom Adams, of Adams Media Research, atributes the victory of Blu-ray over HD-DVD with jump strating Blu-ray Disc sales, a trend he forecasts to continue through 2008.
“Before, there was a tendency to play it safe and stick with the standard DVD,” Adams said. “But now there’s no longer anything to worry about.”
Fox’s Feldstein agrees. “Consumers in the high-def marketplace are now purchasing with confidence,” he said. “The confusion in the marketplace that you saw when there were two formats continues to work itself out, and once education campaigns begin and the retail presence [of Blu-ray] expands, we should start to see the numbers soar even higher.”
Fox market researchers estimate Blu-ray Disc sales will hit $1 billion in consumer spending in calendar 2008, up from an estimated $300 million for combined Blu-ray and HD DVD software in calendar 2007.
Adams expects Blu-ray disc sales will continue to trend up as more players come to market. He projects 2008 will end with 2.9 million dedicated Blu-ray Disc players in homes, up significantly from 2007, and another 8.4 million PlayStation 3s, with built-in Blu-ray drives, up from 3.2 million at the end of 2007.
Adams noted that the sales gains that have been recorded to this point have been achieved even before the major studios have yet to get serious with their Blu-ray marketing promotions and especially targeting PlayStation3 owners.
“The promotion to PlayStation 3 homes hasn’t really kicked in yet,” Adams noted. “And assuming that works, when you’re talking 5 million homes, getting them to buy just one more movie a year can make a significant difference in a small market like this.”
