Blu-ray (nearly) maintains 2-to-1 sales lead over HD DVD
by Darren Murph 
posted Oct 24th 2007 at 3:01AM
We last saw official numbers for Blu-ray / HD DVD disc sales in August, and for those wondering what a month or so would do to the race, we've got extraordinarily uneventful news. According to Home Media Research, sales of Blu-ray titles from January 1st to September 30th of this year now total 2.6-million units, while the HD DVD camp has moved some 1.4-million flicks in the same period. Granted, HD DVD has managed to close the gap somewhat, and analysts are expecting the impressive sales of Transformers (among other notable Q4 releases) to narrow the margin further by the year's end. 'Course, we're no closer now to settling this whole format war than we were this summer, but it's always enjoyable to pick apart the statistics, no?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jnas @ Oct 24th 2007 5:24AM
What Transformers will do for HDDVD, Spiderman 3 will do the same for Bluray.
There will be no "closing" of gaps.
Jnas @ Oct 24th 2007 5:45AM
Oh, and are you forgetting about DIe Hard 4.0?
DeadPlasmaCell @ Oct 24th 2007 8:40AM
Eh, I wasn't a big fan of Spiderman 3.. neither were many people I Know. It was pretty boring. Pirates on the other hand though, that will work.
smee @ Oct 24th 2007 6:05AM
Transformers got rave reviews, my kids loved it, many many people were disappointed with SM3, my kids hated it.
Time will tell.
Griffon2k @ Oct 24th 2007 7:33AM
Blu-Ray will continue to sell good numbers for movies like Die Hard and Spiderman 3-----to the PS3 crowd. Don't look for people to buy standalone Blu-Ray players for these.
People are however buying HD DVD standalones for Transformers as of late.
Xyzzy @ Oct 24th 2007 8:26AM
So to write the title of the article another way....
"Blu-Ray lead continues to shrink, even before exclusive Paramount/Dreamworks titles hit the shelves."
Both formats will either live forever or die together.
LiqwidZero @ Oct 24th 2007 9:40AM
Very true.
TrentD @ Oct 24th 2007 8:40AM
As an HD DVD owner, I don't see the gap closing any towards the end of the year, unless software prices on the HD DVD side drop, or a major studio defects or goes neutral.
Transformers has made an impressive showing, and I don't think SM3 or Die Hard will sell the same kinds of numbers, but Blur-ray has quite a few major titles hitting this Christmas that will help them hold the lead.
Kumar @ Oct 24th 2007 9:34AM
X2
Saw transformers, loved it. Never felt the urge to see spiderman.
mlody11 @ Oct 24th 2007 9:31AM
Ummm... duh. there were no real significant numbers for a long enough period. Any idiot could deduced that. Why the weird title? How about something more neutral like "Format war continues to be elusive while blu-ray maintains sales lead" Why the 2-1 in the title?
Even the transformers title didn't get such good treatment as this insignificant "numbers" release...
"Transformers HD DVD sets new high definition sales records" Could have just as well said
"Transformers HD DVD beats Blu-Ray one week sales records by 2-1 (nearly)"
Get It?
Btw... the real question is, can the people at Home Media Research play doom?
I know I'll get bashed for that comment but its just as regurgitating as this article.
Jack @ Oct 24th 2007 10:26AM
HAHA numbers aren't out yet about HD sales this last week. We have to wait until Friday to know for sure....2:1 for hd dvd on transformers week? Please.......if Hd dvd doesn't win this week it will be a huge dissapointment.
John B @ Oct 24th 2007 9:36AM
Waiting for h4ldol to come in with some sort of pathetic, Snoopy-style dance espousing his childish, "HD DUD" rhetoric in 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...
LiqwidZero @ Oct 24th 2007 9:39AM
With Spider-Man 3 costing $45.99 MSRP (Yes, I know it's cheaper online, but that never stopped Best Buy, did it?), the sales will never match Transformers. Plus... emo-spidey just doesn't do it for everyone.
gas @ Oct 24th 2007 10:10AM
Have you seen the 4Q releases? That gap will only get larger.
Dino.Radio @ Oct 24th 2007 10:20AM
This battle Sony has been part of before and lost. When VHS first came out Sony tried to battle with them and lost. I have a feeling HD DVD is going to win.
Siva @ Oct 24th 2007 8:19PM
I guess I am in the minority. This summer I watched several movies including Spider Man 3, Transformers, Pirates, Ratatouille, etc. My favorite was Ratatouille. Then Pirates, Then Spidey, then Transformers. Transformers tired me out. It was just one big video game and I am not much of a gamer.
mlody11 @ Oct 24th 2007 11:01AM
Please read the post without your blu-ray goggles on...
"Transformers HD DVD beats Blu-Ray one week sales records by 2-1 (nearly)"
This is how engagdet would spin it if it was pro-blu-ray and since you commented with such outrage, its apperent that you caught the discrepency and thus my point that engadget is spinning the titles pro-blue-ray. Much like Apple's articles...
If apple and blu-ray had a bastard child, it would be engadget.
JayHDDVD @ Oct 24th 2007 10:33AM
Looking at the releases coming up over the next couple of months, I don't think BR will loose any ground but likley gain alot. Especially with movies like Cars coming out. Transformers will only hold the sales gap for a week and then it will be all down hill. I can't see Shrek/Bourne 3 doing that well either. I think it's already decided and I started with HD DVD... not a BR fan at all. But ready to admit defeat. It's over. Gap will be 3:1 after xmas. Guaranteed.
MAK42868 @ Oct 24th 2007 10:52AM
This article was about yearly results so far, and how HD-DVD is closing the gap. I'm not sure which movies the analysts are expecting to help close the gap in 4Q (can someone help, please?), but HD-DVD is keeping up -- holding steady, at the very least. I just saw some HD-DVD laptops showing up at Best Buy for
RPGJock @ Oct 24th 2007 10:53AM
Actually Blu Ray will cheat with Spider Man 3 sales, as it is packed in with the new PS3 40gb model. Each of those units counts toward total sales.
MAK42868 @ Oct 24th 2007 10:55AM
UGGGH, stupid site apparently doesn't like the "
MAK42868 @ Oct 24th 2007 10:56AM
OK.... F this site... nothing I'm typing is going through, lol.
Sean @ Oct 24th 2007 11:03AM
Die Hard 4.0? No thanks. It will be the PG-13 version while DVD will have the unrated version. Also, SM3 and the Trilogy will sell huge numbers, but I am not sure it will beat Transformers. We will have to wait and see.
Kris @ Oct 24th 2007 11:25AM
What cracks me up about this whole thing is that Blu-ray is trying to brag about a not even 2:1 lead when they have 20 times more players out there, all they can do is not even 2:1? What an absolute embarrassment! They ought to feel like absolute losers already in this war to not even hold a 2:1 lead which continues to shrink with their millions of PS3's out there which the xbox360 is outselling 5:1 currently. And just wait, its already confirmed there is a Toshiba/Walmart deal that has the Toshiba A2 selling this holiday season for $198 side by side with Sony's S300 for $488 (Not profile 1.1). RPGJock said it right, we all know Sony will cheat with the numbers on Spiderman 3 due to bundling it with their cheap PS3. When hasn't sony cheated? They always make announcements that are shady to make it appear they are winning! Remember when we thought they'd sold 100,000 Casino Royale's? But then found out that was only shipped units, not sold. You Can bet they'll try and spin this Spiderman3 in a way that it appears to beat Transformers but we all know its not true sales, its Sony lying again like always because they are scared to death that they are about to lose their 5th format war!
Jimmy @ Oct 24th 2007 12:52PM
wow - I hate to even respond but...
What cracks me up about this whole thing is that HD DVD is trying to brag about a not even 3:2 lead when they have players at 1/2 price out there, all they can do is just 53% hardware lead. What an absolute embarrassment! They ought to feel like absolute losers already in this war to not even hold a 54% lead which continues to shrink. The PS3 is outselling stand alone HD DVD players 15:1 currently. And just wait, its already confirmed there is a deal that has the 40 GB Sony being sold in every major store for $399 and Sony's S300 will be setting on the shelf at Target without any HD DVD players. Toshiba always make announcements that are shady to make it appear they are winning! Remember when we thought they held a huge hardware lead on the PC? blah blah blah blah
What I just wrote is completely biased and one sided but then again it is just as accurate as what you wrote. You see there are many ways to say something and if a person wanted to they could try to remove the venom from their language. Something like this:
HD DVD has closed the gap with Blu-ray in disk sales for the year. Blu-ray's lead is now down to just under 2:1 for the year. Meanwhile, Blu-ray has closed the gap with HD DVD in hardware sales for the year. HD DVD's lead is now down to 53% for the year. To most outsiders it appears that this war will end with dual format players.
ross @ Oct 30th 2007 12:27PM
When the RIAA told everyone that music sales were down, the number of units sold had actually gone up. It was the units shipped that had gone down. Same thing, essentially.
JayHDDVD @ Oct 24th 2007 11:59AM
Cars alone will outsell Shrek 3 and Bourne 3 I bet.
It's too bad, but Universal keeps releasing horrible movies, IE Seed of Chucky, and BR camp is releasing huge exclusive movies that are going to shadow HD DVD this Xmas. That's just the way it is. And look at Paramount, besides Transformers, what title do they have over the next few months that will do as well?
I love HD DVD, was my first choice, but gotta admit, the movie selection sucks compared to BR.
Mike @ Oct 24th 2007 12:26PM
Transformers was a lame movie. I just watched it on HD DVD again and put the thing up for auction. It was as lifeless and boring as Armageddon. The HD DVD looks great, but I was disappointed that they didn't include a loseless audio track. Sounds like HD-30 doesn't have the space for both without compromising picture quality.
MegaZone @ Oct 24th 2007 8:43PM
Well done! :-)
As for 'cheating' - HD DVD fans shouldn't throw stones at Sony for counting SM3 discs that are bundled, since the HD DVD camp counts the discs bundled with the 360 add-on and Toshiba players when they do bundle promos. And both sides count the 'five free' disc promos as well.
Glass houses and all that.
reddplague @ Oct 24th 2007 12:56PM
HD-DVD fanboy favorite anwser to BD selection over HD-DVD.
"I can import any BD movie because HD-DVD is region free."
HD-DVD fanboy favorite anwser to why HD-DVD will beat BD this X-mas.
"Just wait for the cheap $199 players then we'll show you"
HD-DVD fanboy favorite anwser to why HD-DVD is max out.
"We don't need 50GB, 30GB is more than any movie will ever need."
I'm sure when 1.6GB hard drives cam out people said the samething
"Why do I need 1.6GB my 520MB drive is all I need."
2007 1TB drives and counting.
mlody11 @ Oct 24th 2007 1:14PM
"I'm sure when 1.6GB hard drives cam out people said the samething
'Why do I need 1.6GB my 520MB drive is all I need.'"
Thats assuming that you won't need more than 50GB for the next gen movies and its also assuming that the next gen movies won't have better encoding formats and its also assuming that the next gen movies won't be on a diffrent media i.e. download or streaming or solid state media or other...
Example - DVD = 8.5 GB... if it was double... it would be 17GB... is that enough for this gen's media? maybe but people are compaining about the "low" space of 30GB. So 60GB analogus to 8.5GB doubled to 17... which BD isn't even that high is would not be enough if the same trend is followed.
Saying 50GB is good for next gen is like saying 17GB is good enough for this generation. Nuff said.
Thats alot of assumptions to make to get to "BD is future proof"
ttringle @ Nov 1st 2007 11:18AM
Dude,
Stay on topic man, this is about the CURRENT HD Disc formats. I can sit here all day and go futurist on your ass and talk about how we will have full WALL based screens and complete sensurround audio and talking robots etc. But thats pretty idiotic when the topic has nothing to do with that crap. Hard Drives will always beat out any removable media in size because drive technology moves one hell of a lot faster than the movie and consumer video industry does. The last time we had a format war in the PC World was with DDR Memory vs RAMBUS, and RAMBUS lost not because they had inferior technology but because they got all SONY level greedy and tried to gouge the entire industry.
Wonder where I can get RAMBUS today, hmmm, oh almost nowhere.
I have both formats but until Joe Everybody figures out what format they want this war won't be over for the time being.
Ed @ Oct 24th 2007 1:33PM
Interesting...I'm reading the comments, but don't see h4Idol's response. What gives?
Larry @ Oct 24th 2007 1:34PM
And Transformers alone sold 8.3 million dvds in one week. The scuffle between the formats carries on...
h4ldol @ Oct 24th 2007 1:38PM
Is anyone surprised? HD DUD simply cannot compete with Blu-ray, not with its tiny capacity and bandwidth, low quality cheapo Toshiba players, lack of lossless audio on most titles, etc, etc, etc. Joe 6-pack isn't *that* dim a bulb to buy into an already obsolete format like HD DUD, especially since he doesn't yet know how to sell stuff on ebay.
Ed @ Oct 24th 2007 9:16PM
Let's face it: YOU are Joe 6-pack, and you are ashamed of it! You are in desperate need of an ABC Afterschool Special to make you feel better.
Smee @ Oct 24th 2007 10:10PM
@H4Idol
Is anyone surprised? Blu gay simply cannot compete with HD DVD, not with it's unspecified players, excessively expensive low quality Korean hardware, who wants to pay extra $ for audio qualities no ones home theater gear will run, etc,etc,etc. Joe 6-pack isnt *that* dim a bulb that he is going to buy into yet another sony lost format war, or pay heaps more money for a product range that offers no real benefits to the average consumer. Joe6- pack is just smarter than that.:)
isayx3 @ Oct 24th 2007 1:56PM
Kris is right, blu-ray has 20 times the players out there than hd-dvd players (and can only sell 2 to 1?) 360 HD-DVD drives are selling out due to the best buy Heroes + 5 movie mail in offer and couple that with cheap HD-DVD players hitting the shelves this holiday season, that 2 to 1 gap will close extremely fast.
Xyzzy @ Oct 24th 2007 2:02PM
@Mike: "Sounds like HD-30 doesn't have the space for both without compromising picture quality."
Not true. There's still roughly 5G free on the disk, which according to people on AVS Forum, is enough for a TrueHD track if they wanted. Paramount must've felt that their DD+ soundtrack was excellent as is (and they're right!!!) and didn't want to pay the royalty fee for TrueHD.
John B @ Oct 24th 2007 2:03PM
You should have waited five more minutes. (See his typically immature rant below.) We all knew that such a title would be the ultimate magnet for that troll. It was just a matter of time before he showed up.
HeiSt-420 @ Oct 24th 2007 2:08PM
It's not even 2:1, and for most of 2007, HD-DVD was still alive and kicking without Paramount's exclusivity. So if they were doing good without Paramount/Dreamworks, I think the momentum will now change swiftly in favor HD-DVD. Paramount made the switch to HD-DVD right before the holiday season, and it's because they're encouraged that it'll prevail because of the availability of affordable HD players.
With equal studio support, "joe-consumer" steadily becoming aware of the high-def realm, and very inexpensive HD-DVD players existing on the market; the momentum is steadily shifting in favor of HD-DVD.
MI @ Oct 24th 2007 2:57PM
"and analysts are expecting the impressive sales of Transformers (among other notable Q4 releases) to narrow the margin further"
Can someone post a link or cite a reference on this? I haven't seen anyone saying that at all (other than in the forums). Frankly, I see the titles coming and Schreck 3 definitely sucked worse than Spiderman 3. Couple of big Disney releases as well, Die Hard... Don't get me wrong, there are some decent titles on the hdvd side, but Transformers was the monster that toshiba (or whoever) bought paramount / dreamworks for and it can't turn the tide by itself. everything else is at best evenly matched.
wysiwyg @ Oct 24th 2007 3:44PM
How does something 'sucked worse' than something else? Anyways, IMO, Shrek wasn't as good as Spiderman 3, but all Disney animations movies suck.
dynamius @ Oct 24th 2007 3:54PM
With a Blu-ray install base of 4:1 or 5:1 including all PS3s over HD DVD, I'd have to say that these numbers must be quite a let down for Blu-ray. PS3s help, definitely, but it's clear that it's not having the impact on sales anywhere near as much as they had hoped. Even with Blu-ray having a 4:1 or 5:1 lead in players, their sales numbers don't even quite reach 2:1 over HD DVD. That shows if HD DVD can get more players out, it would quickly make a comeback.
With the Paramount/Dreamworks HD DVD exclusivity deal beginning to make an impact with the release of Transformers and future titles, things are really starting to heat up. At this rate, the eventual adoption of dual format players looks like the only way out for everyone. Both sides are alive and well and kicking hard right now.
Griffon2k @ Oct 24th 2007 4:45PM
HD-DVD standalone prices are swiftly coming down.
More studio support thanks to Paramount/Dreamworks going HD-DVD exclusive.
The word is out about US Blu-Ray exclusive titles being available overseas on HD-DVD with no region coding in the way.
HD-DVD is clearly going to remain in the game and can't help but close in and possibly take Blu-Ray's lead.
Not to mention as I projected early on, the PS3 sales could only sustain Blu-Ray titles for so long. PS3 sales have slown to a crawl. Everyone is now waiting for the $399 40GB, but if you consider that the Xbox 360 offers most of the same exact games plus some great exclusives at a lower cost and the the 40GB PS3 has no PS2 backwards compatibility at all, the SKU may not make a difference at all.
Not to mention that Blu-Ray isn't even standardized yet.
The format war is still on, but few can honestly argue that the tide ISN'T changing.
Brian @ Oct 24th 2007 7:32PM
PS3 sales numbers are from September and that's hardly a blockbuster month for console sales. The only thing that changed that for Microsoft was Halo 3. There will be no more Halo 3 effect now. Everyone who was waiting to buy a system until Halo came out have already done it. I expect that sales of PS3's to be very comparable to Xbox in the fourth quarter. All those people who are waiting for the $399 PS3 only have to wait another week. Oh, and that PS3 will play Blu-Ray discs, unlike the $349 Xbox which won't play any HD-DVD discs without an extra $180 add on player. You say you predicted early on that the PS3 would only sustain disc sales for so long....why is that? If PS3 owners start out buying Blu-Ray discs, why would they suddenly stop? Wouldn't it be more likely that as the install base grows, so will the sales? Speaking as a PS3 owner who uses it for both games and BD's, I'm pretty sure it will. There are BD titles coming out every week from here until the end of the year that I'm going to be buying...and I don't think I'm the only one.
JBDragon @ Oct 24th 2007 11:30PM
With all the FREE HD DVD Movies you get buying the 360 HD DVD drive. It's basically a FREEBIE! That's HERO and 5 free movies. That means if you Paid to buy ALL THOSE separately, and got them at the cheaper Amazon price and NOT paid Retail prices from someplace like Best Buy. That's $170 in HD DVD Movies. Retail prices being $225. So that 360 Add-On drive once again is basically FREE! Look at it as buying the movies and getting something FREE to play them on!!! It's a great deal. To bad I didn't wait, but then on the other hand, I've been Enjoying my HD DVD's all this time. One thing is for sure. I'll NEVER buy a DRM Infested Unfinished format Blu-Ray Movie disc EVER. IF HD DVD goes bye, bye, which I think it won't no matter what the Blu-Ray camp keeps telling everyone hoping it'll come true, I'll go right on buying DVD's and using a Upconverter player because to me, that's far better then then the Blu-Ray garbage.
SpiderMan 3 wasn't all that great, I havn't watched any of the Pirate Movies yet. Die Hard 4, was just ok. I'll buy SM3 on DVD to go with the other 2.
joel @ Oct 25th 2007 12:16AM
How many times does it have to be said? Spiderman-3 and Pirates 3 will sell huge blu-ray amounts, even michael bay is pouting about not releasing Transformers on Blu-ray. It would have sold more copies on blu-ray anaway. Paramount and Universal should feel pretty stupid going HD-DVD exclusive for the time being. Studios flip-flopping over these formats is the main reason for this format war, If they could decide on one or the other and use only that format, people are forced to accept it to watch their favorite movies. Or go the other way and support both just to keep consumers guessing.
Griffon2k @ Oct 25th 2007 7:52AM
Brian,
The PS3 sales won't sustain BD sales because of the demographic currently investing in the console. Most young men 18-35 are likely to stick to the action and sci-fi genres for Blu-Ray films. That will support flashpan sales. Also factor in that PS3 sales are at a crawl and it looks like they are relying on the same pool of customers to buy into BD. That won't carry the format.
And you're wrong about 360 sales as well.
The console sales trend PROVES that the average consumers buying game consoles DON'T care about HD movies out of the box. The Wii, 360 and PS2 (ironically) have continuously outsold the PS3. That isn't a coincedence. 360 sales increases result from the price drop, addition of HDMI built in and the start of a big game season for the system. Madden 360 outsold all other versions. The SDF has been 360 sales to bottom out for almost a year. It still hasn't happened.
Mak @ Oct 25th 2007 2:54PM
"Granted, HD DVD has managed to close the gap somewhat, and analysts are expecting the impressive sales of Transformers (among other notable Q4 releases) to narrow the margin further by the year's end"
Are the editors idiots?
1/ What Transformers does for HD DVD, Spiderman 3 will do for Blu-Ray (and the 5 million or so additional Blu-ray players, means it's also likely to shatter the Transformers record).
2/ The gap in increasing. Granted in the US, it's prety much the same as it was in the summer. However in Europe, Blu-ray is outselling HD DVD by 4:1 and in Japn it's 9:1