Blu-ray Hardware Sales Pick Up After Warner Announcement
A new NPD Group report shows that stand-alone Blu-ray player sales benefited greatly from the recent announcement that Warner would be going Blu-ray exclusive. The first week of January, before Warner made their announcement, there was a nearly 50-50 split between Blu-ray and HD DVD standalone players. The following week, after the announcement, Blu-ray players grabbed 93% of the market.
On the whole, December sales data showed that Blu-ray players held 60% of the standalone market, despite much cheaper players from the HD DVD camp. Looking at only the first two weeks of January, Blu-ray already has a nearly 70% market share which is sure to increase as the month continues and consumers continue to chose Blu-ray over its rival format.
