Góðar fréttir fyrir stuðningsmenn blu-ray og playstation3.

“Blu-ray software sales have now surpassed HD-DVD for the first time the week of December 24 and they did so by an impressive 20 percent. The sales gap is expected to widen further in 2007 based on research conducted by Twentieth Century Fox and Blu-ray is expected to outsell HD-DVD by a 3.5-to-1 ratio by the end of the first quarter. Blu-ray software sales have now surpassed HD-DVD for the first time the week of December 24 and they did so by an impressive 20 percent. The sales gap is expected to widen further in 2007 based on research conducted by Twentieth Century Fox and Blu-ray is expected to outsell HD-DVD by a 3.5-to-1 ratio by the end of the first quarter.

One of the driving factors behind the growth in sales is the PlayStation 3 (PS3), which was launched on November 17, 2006 in North America. The PS3 has been selling out at retail outlets since it was launched and despite shortages Sony has been able to meet its target of shipping 1 million PS3s in North America by the end of 2006. What's even more impressive is that they did it faster than their top-selling PlayStation 2 (PS2) platform did when it was launched. Sony is now targetting 6 million PS3 consoles shipped worldwide by the end of the fiscal year (end of March 2007).

While many have doubted the effect the PlayStation 3 would have on the format war between Blu-ray and HD-DVD it's hard to argue with the numbers. Blu-ray sales are up 700 percent since the mid-November launch of the PlayStation 3 and other Blu-ray players from Sony, Panasonic and Philips. According to a recent survey by Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) of over 10,000 PS3 owners, 80 percent indicated they will buy Blu-ray movies and 75 percent said they use the PS3 as a primary device for viewing movies. However, this shouldn't come as such a big surprise as those that have bought the PS3 might as well take advantage of the Blu-ray playback capability, which still is the cheapest Blu-ray player on the market at just $499.

The content advantage that Blu-ray enjoys is another major factor that should become more and more evident now that the Blu-ray exclusive studios (Disney, Fox, Sony, MGM and Lionsgate) are starting to release more titles in the format. When looking at the 20 top selling DVDs of 2006 almost all were released by movie studios supporting Blu-ray, which means that titles such as Pirates of the Carribean and Cars will only be available for Blu-ray. The content advantage should further shift in Blu-ray's favor as the format neutral studios (Warner, Paramount) catch up their Blu-ray release schedules with HD-DVD so that the same movies are available for both formats.

Overall the Blu-ray backers are confident that it's only a matter of time before the Blu-ray format becomes the dominant format in the US market, just as it already accounts for 96% of the market in Japan.”