Casino Royale helps Sony`s Blu-Ray out-sell rival HD-DVD seven to three
09-Apr-2007 • Casino Royale
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Sony, a clear backer of the Blu-ray Disc, has released a special report on the next-generation formatâs current lead over HD DVD. Although the source of the report leads to immediately brings up the issue of obvious bias, the numbers cited come from reputable retail point-of-sake statistics source Nielsen VideoScan.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment was likely spurred to release the report based on the success of Casino Royale on Blu-ray Disc. The latest Bond flick debuted at the top of the next-gen format sales charts with 28,233 units, making it the fastest selling high-def disc to date. The release of Casino Royale also boosted Blu-ray sales 74.4 percent for the week ending March 18 as compared to the previous week. In comparison, HD DVD sales fell 14.1 percent compared to the week before that.
Blu-rayâs strong sales since the beginning of 2007 have given it a 7 to 3 sales ratio versus HD DVD. Year to date sales of Blu-ray are 549,730 units and for HD DVD 249,451 units.
Blu-rayâs lead isnât as strong, however, when looking at cumulative sales since each formatâs inception. Total sales for Blu-ray Disc are around 844,000 and for HD DVD an approximate total of 708,600 units. Blu-ray surpassed HD DVD in total units sold during mid-February.
In terms of movies, seven out of the top 10 best selling high-def movies of all time are Blu-ray titles. For the week ending March 18, nine out of 10 were Blu-ray titles. The only HD DVD to crack that weekâs is The Departed in fifth place, while the Blu-ray version held second place.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment also broke down the high-def format unit market share. For Blu-ray, Sony leads with 32.2 percent, followed by Warner at 19 percent and Fox at 13.7 percent. For HD DVD, Warner accounts for 47.3 percent, followed by Universal with 38.3 percent and Paramount at 12.1 percent.
Although Nielsen VideoScan statistics are generally indicative of market trends, they do not include Wal-Mart and some online merchants. Sonyâs choice to publish its findings after analyzing the latest numbers is a clear indication of the confidence that Blu-ray Disc has in winning the format war. Still, Blu-ray only took the lead from HD DVD in 2007, which HD DVD supporters blame on their formatâs relatively sluggish recent months. With high-definition movie sales figures being insignificant when compared to the numbers that DVD sells, both HD DVD and Blu-ray have a ways to go before either one can truly be declared a winner.
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