Blu-ray Titles Outsell DVD Counterparts on Amazon

[Woochifer]

Granted, this is just a simple read off of Amazon's sales charts, but it looks like more and more consumers have begun to opt for the Blu-ray version instead of the DVD. According to High Def Digest, the Amazon sales charts that they checked found that the Blu-ray versions for Up, Harry Potter, and Star Trek have begun outselling the DVD versions.

Blu-ray generally accounts for a higher percentage of sales on Amazon than at other retailers, but it looks like Blu-ray has some big momentum heading into the peak holiday shopping period. And this is the first time that I've seen so many high profile releases come out with Blu-ray ahead of DVD, especially after the first week. Previously, the Blu-ray sales share would come out higher in the first week and then taper off afterwards.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh...on_Amazon/3857

Maybe this will finally put an end to the canned "Do or Die Time for Blu-ray" articles that the download/streaming-obsessed tech writers keep posting every year? Nah, sales data and reality-based analysis never stopped them!

[kexodusc]

Good to see the momentum continues for BluRay. I haven't purchased or rented a DVD in almost 18 months now, I assume most other BluRay owners are behaving the same way for the most part. That swing has a leveraged effect. Each new BluRay customer probably translates into 1 lost DVD customer going forward, so we might expect the gap to decrease quite rapidly over the next year.

[pixelthis]

Good to see the momentum continues for BluRay. I haven't purchased or rented a DVD in almost 18 months now, I assume most other BluRay owners are behaving the same way for the most part. That swing has a leveraged effect. Each new BluRay customer probably translates into 1 lost DVD customer going forward, so we might expect the gap to decrease quite rapidly over the next year.

Why buy a disc except to collect, and then the obvious answer is Blu.
I havent bought a DVD either.
Like I tried to explain to Mr P, time spent watching an inferior pic is time you don't get back.
I don't watch VHS anymore either.

[rob_a]

Why buy a disc except to collect, and then the obvious answer is Blu.
I havent bought a DVD either.
Like I tried to explain to Mr P, time spent watching an inferior pic is time you don't get back.
I don't watch VHS anymore either.

Good point, DVD picture quality is showing it's age. I have not rented a DVD in about 8 months, and haven't watch VHS in about 5 years. Had an ex-girlfriend that loved VHS, but that's another story for another time

[audio amateur]

In England and France, Blu is being promoted but from what I can see in stores, DVD sales prevail majorly. Comparing the number of DVDs to that of Blus in-store, Blu appears to be a niche market. Prices are still quite high (lowest Blu price I've seen in stores is about 10 GBP (16 bucks), whereas the cheapest DVDs are 3 GBP (5 bucks)).
The shear selection, availabilty and low price of DVDs mustn't be helping Blu sales here.

However I have noticed they are cutting Blu (and DVD) prices like mad on Amazon UK for Christmas. Some Blus are down about 70% in price.
As for players, prices are still relatively high (the cheaper blu players are around a 140$).
Blu will no doubt prevail but it just hasn't taken off completely here. Blu prices need to fall some and there needs to be more Blu films available.

[Feanor]

Granted, this is just a simple read off of Amazon's sales charts, but it looks like more and more consumers have begun to opt for the Blu-ray version instead of the DVD. According to High Def Digest, the Amazon sales charts that they checked found that the Blu-ray versions for Up, Harry Potter, and Star Trek have begun outselling the DVD versions.

Blu-ray generally accounts for a higher percentage of sales on Amazon than at other retailers, but it looks like Blu-ray has some big momentum heading into the peak holiday shopping period. And this is the first time that I've seen so many high profile releases come out with Blu-ray ahead of DVD, especially after the first week. Previously, the Blu-ray sales share would come out higher in the first week and then taper off afterwards.
...

I'm taking note of this. To me it seems like an important inflection point in Blu-ray progress.

As I said recently, if my DVDP poops out I'd prefer to get a BRP despite that I'm holding off on an HDTV. Any good cheap BRPs out there? Can I still get S-Video and coax outputs with the appropirate down-conversion?

[02audionoob]

I'm taking note of this. To me it seems like an important inflection point in Blu-ray progress.

As I said recently, if my DVDP poops out I'd prefer to get a BRP despite that I'm holding off on an HDTV. Any good cheap BRPs out there? Can I still get S-Video and coax outputs with the appropirate down-conversion?

There's something I never noticed...My LG BD370 doesn't have S-Video output. My Sony BDP-S350 does, though.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I knew this was going to happen, and I am glad it has. We now have a format that bit for bit matches the audio quality of the audio master tapes, and looks as close to the film printmaster as video allows, and we are getting it all in our homes for a average price of about $20.

There are some in Hollywood (the Hollywood press) who believe that based on this, the prices of Blu ray hardware and software are going to be commoditized too quickly, which will erode profits sooner than DVD has. I don't believe this. The goal is to sell as many disc as you can when you can - and based on that goal you must price your product competitive, and now at least the retailers have. No doubt, prices will go back up - but they won't be nearly as high as they once were, and I think that is good for what most of the studios desire...sell HD on disc.

[Woochifer]

More news on Blu-ray's current surge. Costco is ramping up its Blu-ray selection by 50%, and expanding its Blu-ray offerings.

http://www.videobusiness.com/article...?desc=topstory

In fact, Costco has made Blu-ray the shining star of its media department this month, because store management believes its customers will be strongly attracted to Blu-ray.

“Blu-ray Disc movies are now the focus of our department,” said Blu-ray/DVD buyer Claudia Augello in the publication. “Members will always find at least 100 titles. But for the holidays, we’ve brought in more than 150. We pride ourselves on offering the newest releases at great savings.”

According to Costco's DVD/Blu-ray buyer, their Blu-ray player sales are up 450% over last year. These numbers match the accelerated growth trend with the DVD format in its 4th year.

[Woochifer]

I knew this was going to happen, and I am glad it has. We now have a format that bit for bit matches the audio quality of the audio master tapes, and looks as close to the film printmaster as video allows, and we are getting it all in our homes for a average price of about $20.

Which is why I find the download/streaming fanboys in the tech press so puzzling. They are so bent against disc media, that they'd rather stick with highly compressed picture quality, sub-DD/DTS quality audio, and deal with all the DRM and other hassles with downloaded/streaming media just for the "convenience" of having everything streamed.

There are some in Hollywood (the Hollywood press) who believe that based on this, the prices of Blu ray hardware and software are going to be commoditized too quickly, which will erode profits sooner than DVD has. I don't believe this. The goal is to sell as many disc as you can when you can - and based on that goal you must price your product competitive, and now at least the retailers have. No doubt, prices will go back up - but they won't be nearly as high as they once were, and I think that is good for what most of the studios desire...sell HD on disc.

Maintaining high margins makes sense for a new media format that's moving less than 1% of the total market. But, if you got Blu-ray now ramping up the growth trend way above 100% year-to-year growth, it makes no sense to try and pull it all back. Go back to the higher price points, and that will blunt the momentum that Blu-ray now has. Better to hit the pedal to the metal. Sheer volume will more than make up for any erosion in the margins.

[rob_a]

Better to hit the pedal to the metal. Sheer volume will more than make up for any erosion in the margins.

I agree; the market is not in any position to increase prices on any tech products this year, especially with the weak economy. Main stream consumers are just now becoming comfortable with the prices on the market now. A good way to doom an emerging technology would be to raise prices back up, even those not as high as they once were, I would suspect buyer will hold out again until they come back down. There is just not enough die hard supporters yet that would overcome this. Remember back, about two years ago when the market was still a sellers market and the war between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray ended, people said, "great, so what!" Prices are the key. All in all, I do think Blu-Ray will catch like DVD did and the prices will come down a little bit more.

[Invader3k]

If they are smart at all they won't jack the prices back up after the holiday season. People will stick to older titles and DVD rather than pay upwards of $30 for new titles when they are used to paying $20 or less.