14 DAY TRIAL // It seems that the Blu-ray segment is truly blossoming. Sharp has just announced that it had finally started selling 100GB BDXL Blu-ray disks, along with BD-HDW700/70 drives meant to support the new format. Now, a development on the Blu-ray player market seems to suggest that this means of enjoying multimedia is growing faster than some may think. Apparently, industry analysts foresee a solid number of Blu-ray player shipments for next year.
Granted, the DVD format is still number one in the world. In 2006, 141.2 million DVD players were sold, according to In-Stat. Still, Blu-ray appears to be progressing at a steady pace, and about 62.5 million shipments are expected to be made in 2011, according to ABI Research. This forecast is based on trends which suggest that the penetration of such devices in households with TVs is growing. For instance, in the US, players will supposedly reach an 18% penetration next year, 7% more than in 2009.
"As interesting as this estimate is, it is just part of a larger picture. The solid growth in Blu-ray player shipments highlights a trend within the wider consumer electronics market. Larger, fixed-location devices such as Blu-ray players and flat panel TVs are enjoying rapid adoption relative to many classes of small, portable devices. [...] In addition to price declines, the greater growth potential of TV-centric devices may be due to some of the recent exciting innovations in TV technologies: larger, flatter panels, Internet connectivity, and stereo-3D,” said industry analyst Mike Inouye.
Granted, in order to actually enable this marketing performance, suppliers of consumer electronics will have to work hard on boosting their marketing prowess. ABI Research suggests that they increase their efforts to educate their customers about what the new devices can actually do. The other aspect that should be worked on is, of course, the overall user experience, which should be seamless and painless.