Blu-ray player sales jump after Warner move
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 1/23/2008
JAN. 23 | On the heels of Warner Bros. Entertainment’s end of 2007 announcement about dropping its HD DVD support, Blu-ray Disc set-tops dominated 90% of all high-definition hardware unit sales for the week ended Jan. 12, according to the NPD Group.
HD DVD set-tops represented 7% and dual-format players totaled 3% of sales during that seven-day frame. For the preceding week ended Jan. 5, before Warner Home Video president Ron Sanders publicly endorsed Blu-ray at the Jan. 7-10 Consumer Electronics Show, HD DVD set-tops and Blu-ray set-top unit sales were split 50/50.
Warner dealt a serious blow to HD DVD with its decision to exclusively release Blu-ray titles after May. But hardware sources indicate that other factors also could be at play, including ongoing retail promotions that essentially give away a free Blu-ray set-top with the purchase of a similarly branded high-def TV. In fact, for the week ending Jan. 26, Ken Crane’s, Best Buy and Circuit City were advertising a free Sharp BD-HP20 Blu-ray player with purchase of any Sharp 1080p LCD TV, representing about $500 in savings. Best Buy and Circuit City also were promoting similar Sony Bravia TV/Sony Blu-ray player bundles during the period.
For the week ended Jan. 12, Sony commanded the Blu-ray market share at about 34%, trailed by Panasonic with 27% and Sharp with 23%, said NPD.
NPD analyst Stephen Baker agrees that Blu-ray hardware made a powerful retail statement over its HD DVD competition. But he warned that future promotion from either side may work to alter the market split.
“Clearly, this is a good sign for Blu-ray and not such a good sign for HD DVD,” said Baker. “But before everyone rushes to judgment, we need to see what happens in the next few weeks. It’s easy to manipulate sales volume by promotion and price cuts. One thing that we’ve learned [at NPD] is that one week of sales is not a great indicator of a long-term trend.”
On Jan. 13, Toshiba began slashing pricing on its HD DVD players, including cutting $150 off the HD-A3 to $149.
