James Delahunty
15 Nov 2007 16:47
The Blu-ray Disc Association European Promotions Committee has dismissed a press release sent out a couple of days ago by the European HD DVD Promotional Group that claimed HD DVD has a higher attach rate in Europe. The Blu-ray camp said the HD DVD camp is "distorting the facts and presenting information that is intended to portray a misleading message to consumers and the industry".
Quoting the same figures from the same independent research firm, Gfk, the Blu-ray camp claims of all HD discs bought by consumers year-to-date in Europe, 73% were in the Blu-ray Disc format and 27% were HD DVD. When we reported on the HD DVD press release showing the attach rate figures, we commented that it was strange to see the HD DVD camp factor in the PlayStation 3 (and gaming hardware in general) in this particular case.
Typically, the HD DVD group has dismissed the idea that a PS3 console can be accepted as a stand-alone Blu-ray player. However, in this particular case, leaving the PS3 in the figures benefited the HD DVD group, as most European PS3 owners bought it for games and not Blu-ray, and so would not buy movies, dramatically lowering the overall attach rate.
"The stakes are high, so it is understandable that each camp wants to portray their product in the best light," Frank Simonis, chairman of the BDA European Promotions Committee. "However, to deliberately mislead the market by misrepresenting the facts is inexcusable. Coming into the critical holiday season many people will be making important purchasing decisions and these need to be based on sound information, not spin and hype."
Of course, with the little interest the masses of consumers in Europe are showing in either format, the two camps might as well be just arguing amongst themselves for now.
Source:
Pocket-Lint.co.uk