Entertainment industry analysts at Screen Media Digest and Adams Media Research aren't buying into claims by Blu-ray supporters that they're on the verge of victory in the format war with HD DVD. In fact they say nothing has changed, and both formats will almost certainly continue to compete for at least a few more years.
“Both formats will be established and co-exist for the foreseeable future,” said Helen Davis Jayalath, senior analyst at Screen Digest. “By 2012, U.S. high-def software will be evenly split between the two formats, where Blu-ray represents 55% of the market and HD DVD represents 45%. But high-def formats won’t boost volume sales [for home entertainment] to the degree that DVD did [over VHS]. Backwards compatibility and Upscaling reduces consumers’ desire to replace existing DVDs.”
Interestingly, it isn't competition between the two formats that appears to be doing the most damage to either. At the High Def 2.0 conference sponsored by Home Media magazine, analysts from the two companies argued that the biggest factor opposing the success of either format at this time is the continued popularity of DVDs. Although Title sales have been dropping in recent months it's not necessarily a sign that consumers aren't still happy with the technology. Despite major improvements to video and audio quality that are readily visible on most HDTVs, the urgency of the switch from VHS to DVD simply isn't there.
Jayelath also pointed a finger at the war of words on both sides, saying “It’s natural for consumers to be concerned of the two formats because of the extensive press coverage of the format war,” Jayalath explained. “Both camps are publicizing every little victory, and that reinforces the idea of war and the consumer then is sitting tight. That is why there is eight-to-one BD dominance, but only two-to-one dominance in software.”
“The ultimate driver of packaged media depends on the strategic decisions of the studios over the next few years—the consumers haven’t chosen,” said Jayalath.
Source: Video Business
Interestingly, it isn't competition between the two formats that appears to be doing the most damage to either. At the High Def 2.0 conference sponsored by Home Media magazine, analysts from the two companies argued that the biggest factor opposing the success of either format at this time is the continued popularity of DVDs. Although Title sales have been dropping in recent months it's not necessarily a sign that consumers aren't still happy with the technology. Despite major improvements to video and audio quality that are readily visible on most HDTVs, the urgency of the switch from VHS to DVD simply isn't there.
Jayelath also pointed a finger at the war of words on both sides, saying “It’s natural for consumers to be concerned of the two formats because of the extensive press coverage of the format war,” Jayalath explained. “Both camps are publicizing every little victory, and that reinforces the idea of war and the consumer then is sitting tight. That is why there is eight-to-one BD dominance, but only two-to-one dominance in software.”
“The ultimate driver of packaged media depends on the strategic decisions of the studios over the next few years—the consumers haven’t chosen,” said Jayalath.
Source: Video Business
