Who says that this format war is still far from over? Nielsen
VideoScan reports that tor the week ending July 22nd, Blu-Ray
sales lead HD-DVD by an astonishing 74% to 26%. In other words,
3/4 of all high-definition movie sales were Blu-Ray discs.
Amazing. Thus far, in 2007, Blu-Ray has widened the sales margin
67% to 33%.
Overall market share still has Blu-Ray leading by 20%, despite
Blu-Ray having a late start, and initially hardware that was much
more expensive than HD-DVD players. Blu-Ray holds 60% of the
market share, with HD falling back even further, down to 40%.
Thus far, a resurgence from Toshiba's format seems highly
unlikely, as prices of Blu-Ray standalone players and the
PlayStation 3 have dropped significantly recently.
Moreover, the top 10 best selling high-def. movies for the week
ending July 22nd were almost all Blu-Ray format, with the
exception of one. Also, a keen eye will notice Resident Evil:
Apocalypse on the chart, that's largely because the movie was one
of the 21 choices for five free Blu-Ray's offered with the
PlayStation 3 as part of Amazon.com's promotion.
1. Premonition Blu-Ray 100.00
2. Casino Royale Blu-Ray 60.41
3. Planet Earth Blu-Ray 56.41
4. Pirates: Dead Man's Chest Blu-Ray 48.55
5. The Fifth Element Blu-Ray 45.24
6. Ghost Rider Blu-Ray 42.94
7. Planet Earth HD-DVD 39.62
8. Pirates: Curse of the Black Pearl Blu-Ray 39.39
9. Apocalypto Blu-Ray 39.87
10. Resident Evil Apocalypse Blu-Ray 31.79