James Delahunty
14 Jun 2007 16:55
Just as the HD DVD Promotional Group is set to cut global sales forecasts for HD DVD players, Sony has said that shipments of its Blu-ray disc players could jump to about 600,000 this year. The company attributes growing demand for Blu-ray to movie titles released exclusively for the Blu-ray disc format.
Out of the top 20 blockbusters "there were 14 or 15 that were exclusive to Blu-ray", Sony's Randy Waynick told a meeting in San Francisco, according to Bloomberg. Sony is relying on exclusive movies to drive demand, having shipped only 100,000 units in 2006.
The U.S. sales target for HD DVD players has been lowered to 1 million from the previous 1.8 million prediction. "Obviously we are going to have to lower our previous global estimate," Toshiba's Yoshihide Fujii said. The HD DVD group is claiming that it has sold 150,000 dedicated HD DVD players, giving it the lead when you exclude the PS3 (Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on also excluded).
Source:
BBC News