http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/ Engadget HD Comments for UK Blu-ray sales up 231% over last year http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/
I'll help you out, so everyone can see the full facts -

"The sole bright spot was 231 per cent increase in the volumes of Blu-ray discs being sold, although the absolute figure of 3.1 million remains modest compared with total DVD volumes of 99.6 million."
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article6620823.ece

3.1 million in a total market of 102.7 million = 3%.

3% is the Blu-ray share in the UK.

Yeah, it's going great, let's pump-up that 231% increase nonsense
(like as if increases starting from such a low base mean a thing).
]]>Jul 3rd 2009 4:53PMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/Jul 3rd 2009 6:47PMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/
Go on then, you tell me how the additional info that I posted here was less truthful and complete than the original thread post?

We're 3 years in and in the UK at least we're able to see that for all the hype and PR it turns out that Blu-ray has 'grown' to 3% of the market.

You tell me why that isn't relevant or important or worth including in a discussion about when Blu-ray stands in the wider scheme of thing.

Why shouldn't people be given that info if it's out there, huh?

(this ought to be good)

Hey, maybe 'The Times' are what was it, oh yeah, "disgruntled HD DVD fanboys"?

LMAO]]>Jul 3rd 2009 9:45PMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/Jul 4th 2009 2:15AMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/
The market is done with physical discs. DVDs work fine for most people now, and as soon as Hollywood pulls its collective head out of its collective ass, and moves to a digital downloading/streaming system, people will be ready to move on. Blu-ray's snail-pace adoption rate is proof enough that all of the above is the truth.]]>Jul 4th 2009 2:34AMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/Jul 4th 2009 8:52AMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/
1. Yes, MFM keeps ragging on BD, and sometimes he's over the top, but in this case the comment he made does actually add context to the original article, and even helps explain it. If Blu-ray really only has 3% of the market in the UK, then it's not surprising the last comment talks about downloads being more likely to take off over there.

2. I don't believe MFM was ever a fan of HD DVD either. My understanding was that he hated both formats, but is especially irritated by EHD's Blu-ray cheerleading which is frequently misleading and frequently over the top (like posting four articles attempting to debunk that stupid "HD DVD is doing better than BD" poll, which actually served to make EHD look more ridiculous than the poll!)

I do think EHD should have included the fact BD has a 3% share over there. The article actually physically makes no sense (well, the last part anyway) without that added bit of context.]]>Jul 4th 2009 10:16AMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/
What's actually sad is that it really doesn't make sense. Why would anyone want BD to fail just because they won (one way or the other).

Here's what I think. A growing disdain towards Blu-ray is the way BDA and all companies and press who are somehow either dependent on them or are actually paid by them are constantly spreading half-baked and cherry picked stats and future estimates that are nowhere near facts or real life.

I think there wouldn't be such an outbreak of dislike if they just kept their mouth shut and actually improved the technology and finally finished it to be up to some standard instead of making statements in some percentages that are only selected to create an illusion of amazing growth. Anyone with high-school education can see that increase of 200% out of something tiny sounds impressive but it still remains tiny. It's normal that the smaller the numbers the more impressive percentages will look with some growth, which takes us to the real life situation.

Is Blu-ray growing? Sure. Is it growing anywhere fast enough to fulfill the numbers estimated by paid shills of BDA? Nope and it's going to be nowhere close to replacing DVD in at least next 5 years and after that the DVD market will shrink so much that the spin on Blu-ray taking 50% of DVD market will take effect without actual logic that by that time DVD market share will nowhere look the same is it does today and the spin and misleading numbers will keep going.

In the end though, it will become evident to everyone. Optical media is dead and it's just a matter of time when it will be replaced. Maybe 5, maybe 10 years but it's happening and in the meantime we will only see DVD or Blu-ray or any other optical media sales number shrink and anything internet based (be it VOD, digital downloads, streaming subscription service and websites) will grow. They already say that by 2012 or so digital downloads/streaming/VOD will take 25% of the market and it will only go up more rapidly from there.]]>Jul 5th 2009 8:58AMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/Everyone I talk to downloads something on a regular basis, it is the way of the future.
The convenience of not having to leave home and being able to select what you want when you want, far outways, IMHO, the advantages of blu ray, especially for the masses.

When are the studios going to wake up to this and get on board with a quality Internet product. They have the chance to beat the pirates at their own game if they can deliver a quick, easy, convenient and cheap alternative. ]]>Jul 3rd 2009 7:56PMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/Jul 3rd 2009 8:26PMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/
I just like to see the real facts.

We don't need the lies and the ridiculous PR, the bald truth will do and allow people to see eactly where things are.
That's all.

3 million iunits sold is a tiny 3%.

Despite 2.2 million PS3s in the UK.
http://www.incgamers.com/News/17232/Latest-UK-Console-Numbers

Even if it is a different market it does show all that cr@p about a 10%, 12% even 20% market share for the garbage it is
(which, of course is merely all I have said all along - & it is why they do all they can to keep these kinds of numbers a very rare event and all that laughable guff about 10%, 12% & 20% shares coming).

3%.

Slowest growing video format ever?]]>Jul 3rd 2009 10:10PMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/Jul 4th 2009 2:22AMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/Jul 4th 2009 2:36AMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/Jul 3rd 2009 10:57PMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/Jul 4th 2009 12:59AMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/
What most of us have said is that it's not going to replace DVD, which is a line pushed by BD supporters, that somehow it is "growing faster" than DVD did (usually based upon bogus comparisons such as pretending Blu-ray didn't exist until February 2008), and is actually at the heart of Warner's decision last year to take a side in the format war.

As a DVD replacement it's hard to see how that can happen, plastic discs are not where the world is heading, so Blu-ray is/is going to be a failure in terms of how the industry and most BD supporters see it.

As a niche format that will live alongside DVD much as Laserdisc did VHS, well, I guess it's doing astonishingly well, much better than I would have predicted, though it does benefit from the fact that the cost difference between DVD and BD isn't anything like as high as it is between VHS and Laserdisc (though I'd love to know why LD cost so much as presumably the hardware and media costs were lower...)

What you have here are multiple goals. There's the industry's goal (BD will overtake DVD in 2010^W2011^W2012...) which is a metric setting it up as a failure*. Then there's the realistic goal and probably the one Blu-ray fans would be most happy with, BD being commercially viable and profitable within the next couple of years and remaining a supported format until, say, 2015, which is a metric it can be successful in.

As long as EHD promotes the first goal, and does so with such bizarrely misleading articles such as this one - which makes no internal sense until you hear the 3% thing - they're promoting failure, and they're encouraging people to post here saying BD'll be a failure.


* OK, BD will overtake DVD, but not in a "DVD is successful, BD is even more successful!" type way. DVD will slowly be replaced by other forms of media, from downloads to VOD. That's actually already happening in my house hold, we used to buy a new DVD every week or so, now the combination of our Dish DVR + Cinemax, and services like Hulu, means we really don't need to and we rarely do. BD will overtake it in the same way as it's already overtaken VHS, because DVD will become obsolete.
]]>Jul 4th 2009 10:31AMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/Jul 4th 2009 3:02PMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/

I can tell by your response that you know BD is already bigger than LD, and is already bigger than a niche format(HDDVD, DVD-A, SACD, Mini Disc, ect). In my mind BD will be the last home video format, it has the potential to be around for a very long time, especailly if they can REALLY get something going with their "500 GB" disc(I have my doubts).

You do realize that Hulu dosen't work outside the U.S. right?? Plus can you see anyone who can barely run a DVD player and wants things instantly doing this? Streaming movies and dowlaods from a cpu/server to a media extender, search through pages of shows on different sites, and have all their media in different places(DVR/VOD/HDD?ect...)?? I can tell you the answer is NO. Plus all of these things don't have the Audio or video quality that BD has right now, forget 3-4 years as ecoding technology gets better. There are already so many classic movies on BD(Godfather/Bladerunner/Close Encounters/ect) and ones soon to be released; LOTR, Braveheart, ect. That I really don't understand why you can't just let people enjoy BD for what it will be. Do we say that dowloads aren't going to take over some day??? . Downloads and streaming are years from offering that kind of quality that BD disc offers now, there are lots and lots of people that enjoy it for that reason. Their will be no physical media in the future, but that future is a long way off.

In my local electronics stores the BD disc selection has gone from 25 Titles when I bought my Ps3 Labour Day 2007. To sharing a 1/4 rack with HDDDVD in Feb 2008. To having a full 40ft rack in June 2009, and having its own 1/4 rack in the New release section, and capping 1/2 the rows in the Movie section. There is also 5 or 6 cubes of 14.99-19.99 BD placed at various places around the store. There is also a little section of BD at the front with the Lower priced DVD's. In one year. Also, almost every time in these stores when it's busy, someone is buying a BD player.

BD is doing just fine.


]]>Jul 6th 2009 4:03PMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/
IMO the official counting in comparison to DVD began when the war ended last year! ]]>Jul 4th 2009 5:25AMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/Jul 4th 2009 10:18AMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/Jul 4th 2009 12:32PMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/Jul 5th 2009 1:10AMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/
The movies are too expensive right now.]]>Jul 6th 2009 2:06AMhttp://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/http://enghddev.weblogsinc.com/2009/07/03/uk-blu-ray-sales-up-231-over-last-year/Jul 6th 2009 8:59AM