Consumers still not sold on Blu-ray

By now we all know: Blu-ray was the big winner in the high-definition DVD wars. Sony must be sitting on its spoils like a victorious medieval king, just sitting back and counting the yen, right? The only problem is that, as the Washington Post notes, Blu-ray's victory hasn't translated to sales.

Things were supposed to pick up after HD DVD bowed out of the market. Many analysts looked at high-def's low sales numbers last year as a "wait it out" problem, as consumers were obviously reluctant to buy one format when one was certain soon to be discontinued.

And so when HD DVD left the market earlier this year, many expected to see a rapid rise in Blu-ray sales. But that hasn't happened. In fact, the opposite has: In February, Blu-ray player sales dropped 40 percent and rose a mere 2 percent in March.

The industry is crying foul, with Home Media Magazine publisher Thomas Arnold saying that the numbers reflect an availability issue, that there weren't enough players on the market to meet demand and that the first quarter is a bad time for electronics sales anyway. (Does anyone remember Blu-ray players being completely out of stock in February? Yeah, me neither.)

But additional figures tend to support the notion that Blu-ray isn't catching on. The most telling: Sales of Blu-ray movies, for which there's clearly no shortage issue. According to Home Media Magazine's own figures, in the optical video disc market, DVD still has a 95 percent share vs. Blu-ray's 5 percent (figures for week of 5/11/08). And Blu-ray sales are dropping, not rising. I'll add that the fact that Blu-ray player prices have gone up in a sad attempt to gouge consumers and Blu-ray movies cost an extra $5 or $10 over the price of a regular DVD has likely left a bad taste in consumers' mouths and isn't helping matters.

Still, Blu-ray title availability remains spotty, and there's a lot of upside remaining as bigger movies come out for the format. As well, the next version of Blu-ray's specs, BD Live, could generate more interest in the format.

But perhaps the simple explanation is the best one, as the Post quotes Jupiter's Michael Gartenberg: "During the course of the [HD] battle, consumers lost interest in both formats."

Note to Blu-ray: Your job is to get people to start caring again. Good luck.