HD DVD vs. Blu-ray, Re-Reloaded - HD DVD Sales Up 37 Percent in US

It seems that not a day goes by without the supporters of HD DVD and Blu-ray getting engaged in yet another media skirmish. After fighting over who's selling the highest number of players in Europe (with each party claiming the dominance of its own products), the two groups have suddenly changed the battlefield, moving back in the US.

Thus, at the Home Media Expo 2007 in Las Vegas, the North American HD DVD Promotional Group today announced that overall HD DVD hardware sales were up 37 percent from Q1 to Q2 2007, while software sales experienced a 20 percent increase in growth. That's fine and dandy, but the HD DVD supports also used this opportunity in order to declare that the overall Blu-ray hardware sales saw a 27 percent decline from Q1 to Q2, while Blu-ray software sales were down 5 percent. Moreover, the results seem to be quite serious, as they're based on NPD reports, Nielsen Netratings reports and point of sale data from the studios.

Quite obviously, the most important reason behind this surge in sales is represented by the very serious price cuts applied to the players. Thus, as the group admits it, due to the major spring marketing efforts which brought standalone HD DVD players down to $299, dedicated HD DVD CE players experienced an astounding 183 percent quarterly increase (up to 180,000 sold units).

"The numbers are clear -- HD DVD is steadily gaining momentum and market share," said Ken Graffeo, executive vice president of HD strategic marketing for Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and co-president of the HD DVD Promotional Group. "With HD DVD CE players now at MSRP prices starting at $299 and with strong marketing campaigns around new HD DVD titles with web-enabled interactive features, we're continuing to raise the bar for the consumer experience."

We're now waiting for the response from the Blu-ray supporters and we probably won't have to wait too long, considering just how combative they are when it comes to defending their format's honor.

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