Nielsen VideoScan High-Def market share for week ending February 17th, 2008

As you might expect all the fun is gone from writing up the weekly Nielsen VideoScan numbers courtesy of Home Media Magazine. But even though Toshiba isn't going to make players anymore, there are still plenty of movies out there, so we're going to follow their sales. It's obvious now that the deep discounted HD DVDs have really helped HD DVD take back some of the market share as HD DVD regains to a 73/27 loss from the 81/19 split of last week. This is the best the red team has done since Warner went Blu and again this week we have two HD DVDs on the top ten. The top two titles this week are no surprise and both were easily able to best third place. The surprise is that while Lionsgate's Why Did I Get Married? is number one on the DVD charts, it wasn't released on Blu-ray, but maybe Lionsgate knows something we don't as Warner's No Reservations hit number 3 on the DVD charts, but was outsold by a number of catalogs to take the number eight spot in HD. These numbers of course weren't impacted by the end of the format war, but next week's will be and we're not sure what to expect. On one hand, there are a lot of promotions out there, but on the other there should be a lot of new Blu-ray owners who've either recently switched or we're waiting until the coast was clear.

















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jubalicious @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:07PM
HD-DVD is coming back baby!!
/sarcasm
andyj @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:20PM
HAHA! Yeah it's funny, they're practically giving these discs away and still are being outsold 3:1. This just shows how "dead" HD DVD really is.
Glad to see it go!
Phour ZwanZig @ Feb 22nd 2008 10:04PM
Tahaha, ya thats funny aint it..
Ive been wondering myself if the best thing so far for HD-DVD is the death, cuz now with MS sellin the addon for $50 and the A3 droppin in price too, almost makes ya wonder if HD-DVD could RISE from the dead.. I can only hope, right?
goAMinD @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:08PM
I guess the HD-DVD giveaways and firesales will push the pie even more red till stock depletes. A lot of retailers are very eager to get rid of HD-DVD.
Nfinity @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:38PM
Yes, so much that Warner said they'll continue to replenish stock if there's demand. Numbnuts.
Richard @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:39PM
Bitter, much?
DrXym @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:45PM
I doubt it will go any higher. Being outsold 3 to 1 while a massive firesale is going on is probably as good as it gets. The last week would have put off even the bargain hunters and the 5 free dvd offer ends next week.
@Nfinity, the chance that Warner is going to republish disks for your beloved and dead format stands between slim and non existent. And they sure as hell are not going to make any HD DVDs beyond their previous commitments. Which includes The Dark Knight, a movie that will exist on HD DVD only in your deluded angry imagination.
MrGuru @ Feb 22nd 2008 7:15PM
@nfinity
shouldn't you be out gathering ammo for your new love of Digital Distribution?
zargon @ Feb 22nd 2008 9:49PM
"Yes, so much that Warner said they'll continue to replenish stock if there's demand. Numbnuts."
You really are grasping at straws by thinking that, I can't believe that you are really that naive.
With everyone, including Toshiba, bailing on HD-DVD. Do you really think that Warner is going to keep stock up? I highly doubt it, who knows if they will even keep to their claim that they will keep releasing until May, June or what ever they said. They are going to clear stock.
It is over, get over it and move on like the rest of us have.
wreckedchevy @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:14PM
what gets me is with only 1/10th the players and nothing but negative news for amonth hd-dvd is holding over 25% considering there is over 9mil more bluray customers and alot better releases coming out on blu it should be a landslide but it isn't
Stewie @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:21PM
That is assuming EVERYONE uses there PS3 as a Blu-Ray player. Yes Sony has Sold 10.18 Million Worldwide. These number are for US ONLY. Think before you type please. In the US Sony stands at 3.99M PS3s sold. And around 300,000 stand alone players. Please correct me if I'm wrong. So at most 4.3M Blu-Ray players. I'm guessing maybe 30% of people use the PS3s BR player. So maybe around 1.5M active BR players. See the numbers make more sense if you do a bit of research.
Source: http://vgchartz.com
Stewie @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:15PM
I wouldn't be surprised if it continues like this for a few weeks. Some retailers might wanna get the inventory out ASAP, and go as low at 49.99 and movies at 9.99. Most likely thats worst case scenario. And obviously the news didn't break from Toshiba officially until Monday Midnight so these charts don't effect the aftermath.
Dam I hope Sony drops the price of the S300 soon, I know the cost is at 288.00, Sony is just being stubborn. Be competitive Sony! You too Samsung your cost is around 312.00 for the BDP-1400.
Gus @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:26PM
A dead format that has 2 movies in the top 10 and players are selling like hotcakes on Amazon.
*sighs*... damn it,.... what might have been
Gus @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:28PM
If this beaten bashed and dead format can still have this amount of impact on HD media sales, it just goes to show that HD media is just a piss in the ocean.
Sean @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:45PM
There is NO fire sale at Best Buy in Culver City on HD-DVD movies! REPEAT! NO fire sale! I checked for deals, they are just as expensive as ever at Lame Buy, oops, I mean, Best Buy.
wreckedchevy @ Feb 22nd 2008 8:31PM
same here not only is there no firesales the moved all the discs so they are impossible to find
regeya @ Feb 22nd 2008 9:08PM
Same here; Carbondale, IL, college town. Not only are there no discounts on the discs (priced competitively with Blu) but you'd think that, based on their signage and whatnot, that it was HD DVD, not Blu-Ray, that won.
Y'all raked online retailers over the coals for rebadging HD DVD players as upscalers; how about pretending nothing happened and continue on as usual, like Best Buy? Which is worse?
James @ Feb 22nd 2008 6:47PM
One day BD fans will graduate from the 5th grade.
JDS @ Feb 22nd 2008 7:00PM
Yeah....HD DVD fans like nfinity & Truth Teller are so mature. We should all grow up and be just like them right James?
benny boy @ Feb 22nd 2008 8:41PM
How can there be such a thing as blu "fans" when only 1 format exists now.
Everyone is (or should be) becoming a "blu fan" now except for a select few in denial *couch* Nfinity, Truth Teller *cough*
Wake up and smell the blu...
Mr. E @ Feb 22nd 2008 7:06PM
I hope Engadget can start tracking sales of Blu-ray versus DVD. Obviously at first it will seem like a joke, since it will be around 1-2% of DVD sales, but it would be really interesting to see how it grows over time. Over the next few years I'm sure it will start accelerating nicely.
I know that I will probably end up buying a lot more Blu-ray discs than I ever did of DVDs. For me, Blu-ray is almost certainly the last format I'll own. Anything higher than 1080p just wouldn't make any sense in the home theater realm. You'd probably need a screen bigger than 120" to even begin to appreciate anything higher than 1080p. Plus, you can't get any better audio than lossless! Just for perspective, I was a LaserDisc owner and have around 400 DVDs. With Blu-ray, I'm looking forward to accumulating a really extensive library of classic films along with my modern favorites. I can't wait until the Criterion Collection starts publishing Blu-ray.
DeadPlasmaCell @ Feb 22nd 2008 7:17PM
Trackage of DVD vs Blu-Ray should be interesting.. I wonder if there are DVD fanboys that will be like "Hah your Blu-Ray will never catch on you wankers!"
EQC @ Feb 22nd 2008 9:31PM
I'll "third" that proposal...
Any engadget writers/editors want to comment on whether or not such data might be available? Is engadget interested in tracking this race? Anybody want to throw in HD download sales too (not SD downloads, and not downloaded rentals)?
jrtallen @ Feb 23rd 2008 11:05AM
Yes, tracking BR vs DVD would make sense. I assume that is what they will do.
shawnmos @ Feb 22nd 2008 7:29PM
Actually I am kind of surprised. Those numbers aren't that bad. I'm sure next week will be less than 10% though because of Toshiba's announcement.
DeadPlasmaCell @ Feb 22nd 2008 7:43PM
You would think so.. but you never know, they may stay the same or be higher due to the install base wanting to pick up movies while they still can.
JVirg1 @ Feb 22nd 2008 7:58PM
When VCR's came out the the way we watched TV was dramatically changed. It was amazing. People could record shows and watch them when they wanted. Rent uncut and commercial free movies. VCR's were big in the market for a long time, but tapes wore out. The quality was marginal. Then came DVD, you could watch it all you wanted and it would never wear out. They are smaller and modern looking. You did not have to rewind. Pausing gave an almost perfet picture. The differences were pretty intense. And they worked with everyones current TV.
Now comes HD Media.
Truly the difference between upconverted DVD and Blu-Ray is not as intense as between VHS and DVD. There are no new real features. Blu-Ray machines are non complete and confusing. Still most people don't have high def TV's so they are useless. They cost more than DVD. People can rent DVD movies and make copies of them (illegal but let's get real it's done).
I could go on all day. The point is Blu-Ray is a luxury item that most don't see the need for.
People can go on and on and on all day long about how Blu-Ray was better than HD DVD and it was the war stopping HD media from catching on. The fact is there is little interest out there period. And the average person is not going to jump on this until their DVD player breaks and they can replace it with a fully functioning comparably priced Blu-Ray. PS3 won the format war, and PS3 alone!!!
Blu-ray is not quite ready for prime time though when it comes to the average consumer. Also many of us Tech people were buying movies like crazy to support our formats. We were like cheerleaders. Well the war is over, the fun of the war is over. And so are the deep pockets!! Blu-Ray sales WILL NOT Skyrocket now.
regeya @ Feb 22nd 2008 9:17PM
Indeed. That's why a lot of us are saying that the prices will have to come down significantly first. My expectation is that once the cheaper blue lasers make it into production models, and once you see the low-end manufacturers like Funai get into it, you'll likely see it catch on. I mean, c'mon, for a significant amount of DVD's lifespan there have been cheap DVD players. I know y'all fanboys like to claim it was the PS2 that made DVD take off, and I'll admit that it helped amongst my agegroup, but it was also cheaper DVD players, not to mention combo units for the older folks.
Personally, I figure the Profile 1.1 players will be had a lower prices once the 2.0 players come out, so once it's good and warm outside I'll be able to pick up a cheap player. Hell, if you're willing to get a Profile 1.0 player (personally I'm not), you can pick 'em up, if you're lucky, for a C-note on eBay.
Or I might just spring for a PS3. I'm seriously contemplating it even though I'm just not into the gaming anymore. I probably won't, but I've been seriously thinking about it. Paying PC prices for a game console...hrm...
JVirg1 @ Feb 22nd 2008 9:24PM
My first DVD player was the PS2 also. But I only bought that because I was going through a divorce and that was one of those I feel guilty so buy the kids happiness gifts. Well, that and a puppy, that I am now stuck with for at least another 10 or so years. :)
jrtallen @ Feb 23rd 2008 11:10AM
The difference between BR and DVD is the difference between HD and SD. People will be as interested in BR as they are in HD. Personally, I think the difference between HD and SD is HUGE. In fact, I don't think you can argue that the PQ improvement of DVD over VHS was that significant until the advent of progressive scan displays. (i.e. 480i vs. 480p)What percentage of people, even today, are able to watch 480p? It's people with HD displays.
Gus @ Feb 22nd 2008 8:09PM
If any of the HD DVD owners are "Eagles" music fans, i just picked up their Melbourne concert on HD DVD, simply stuning!
Worth picking up while you still can.
benny boy @ Feb 22nd 2008 8:42PM
Is there actually any reason to support DVD over blu-ray?
benny boy @ Feb 22nd 2008 8:44PM
Sorry meant to be a reply to DeadPlasmaCell
Phour ZwanZig @ Feb 22nd 2008 10:17PM
Sorry benny boy,
Sony used to be a passenger in my car, but I kicked them out a few years ago. I myself was sick of the delay in gettin the PS3 out. Was disappointed with my PSP (except HomeBrew & EMUs) and now you want to spoon feed me BluRay, except with a pitchfork. I went with HD-DVD due to the fact that they had there standards set in stone and the above facts. And then the only BluRay player worth the money is the PS3, which I feel is Sony's way of tryin to get the PS3 numbers up to say they won the console war.. Being I work for an Entertainment/media company (TWC), Ive came upon many of our customers that got a PS3 when it came out, just for the BluRay player cuz it is/was the cheapest out there. Id have to say the number of PS3 owners Ive talked to in our area are bout 3:1 gamers:bluray players
So Im not bitter at HD-DVD dieing but at Sony and its ways..
Phour ZwanZig @ Feb 22nd 2008 10:24PM
K. Lets try this again.. Dont know why my last reply didnt show, really Weblogs INC you guys really need to fix the reply system...
But anyways the last post was in response to:
benny boy @ Feb 22nd 2008 8:41PM
How can there be such a thing as blu "fans" when only 1 format exists now.
Everyone is (or should be) becoming a "blu fan" now except for a select few in denial *couch* Nfinity, Truth Teller *cough*
Wake up and smell the blu...
Seattle Yonkers @ Feb 23rd 2008 2:53AM
*Were
MegaZone @ Feb 23rd 2008 8:05AM
Ben, I saw you were quoted in this issue of Home Media Magazine. Nice. :-)
Ben @ Feb 23rd 2008 8:05AM
Thanks!
Yeah it is nice to be quoted, makes you feel like someone actually cares what you say.
HD4ME @ Feb 23rd 2008 9:27AM
brown nose
Chris @ Feb 25th 2008 4:15PM
Just think... if this isn't converted to a BD vs SD topic... One month soon it will just be archived away along with all of Nfinity and TruthTellers dreams and lies.