Blu-ray Maintains Edge Despite 'Transformers'

Blu-ray Disc titles began outselling HD DVD titles early in the year and have consistently maintained an edge, week after week. Even Paramount Home Entertainment's release of the DreamWorks theatrical blockbuster Transformers exclusively on the HD DVD format didn't tip the scale last week. Though there was no hot new Blu-ray Disc release, consumers continued to buy more Blu-ray Discs than HD DVDs for the week ended Oct. 21, albeit by a slim 51% to 49% edge. Paramount says Transformers sold 190,000 units its first week in stores, but Home Media Magazine market research and studio estimates puts the actual number of units that sold through to consumers closer to 115,000.

[pwnsause]

hey paramount I have a better Idea, break the stupid contract, get a lawsuit, gain all that money back by releasing Transformers on Blu-Ray!

[ruibing]

I would have bought Transformers if it was Blu Ray, but for now I'll settle with Spider Man and Pirates of the Caribbean.

[cuco33]

Wait until Neilson's "official" numbers (which excludes amazon figures). Even so, any sales advantage is due to the BOGO where every buy one get one free counted as 2 disc sales regardless of the fact you were only paying for one. Strange some of you look at an installed base of 10 times more than HD DVD, literally giving discs away. There is a discrepancy since Para claimed they sold 190k units where as the article says 110k+ estimated.

How's that 800+million financial loss due to PS3 and BD doing for Sony this past quarter?

Both formats will continue to strive. Even if one miserably failed, Sony and Toshiba would be perfectly fine.

EDIT: to ruibing.

Thing that most don't realize is the freebies, regardless if it's the mail ins from BD or HD DVD or the latest addon sale, aren't included in the sales figures but the free titles from the BOGOs, are counted. See, it's working the numbers, the studio still gets paid for the disk sale but instead of to the consumer it's to the manufacturer/business/forum.

Basically Fry's had the BOGO but the way they worked it was by making all BD disks half price. Circuit City just made sure you bought an even amount (think business). So technically it's still BOGO, but they termed it as a sale being able to include the sale as a unit sold. Make sense?

[Lionsguard]

"According to a market research company Nielsen VideoScan, as of week ended October 14, 2007, weekly US sales of Blu-ray discs were ahead of HD DVD with 71% of the market. In 2007 US sales, Blu-ray leads with 66% of the market. Since inception, US market share was 61% for Blu-ray and 39% for HD DVD.[33][34] The 2007 sales numbers are in contrast with much of 2006 (before the release of the PlayStation 3) when HD DVD had the lead."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

[rbanke]

Personally, I wont buy Transformers unless its on a blu-ray (i guess that will be in 16+- months)

[ruibing]

If you are talking about discounts, then HD-DVD is guilty of the same tactics. The latest one is buy a 360 HD-DVD add-on and get 5 movies, a copy of King Kong, and the first season of Heroes. THAT is what you call giving it out for free. I mean jeez for a add-on drive, they just gave out over half a dozen discs (not sure how many a season of Heroes uses). The worst Blu Ray did was just B1G1, which helps them sell those trilogies that appear on Blu Ray (I used the chance to get a lot of Blockbuster hits). Don't be a hypocrite by not doing enough research beforehand.

[godofthunder10]

i'm tired of hearing all the fanboys from both sides crying and fighting over formats like 9 year olds over candy on a school playground.
the truth is that they both play at 1080p and if they had 2 different 1080p they would have different pictures but they don't they have the same picture so get a life and act a grownup.
the reason that BR sells more movies is because sony forced it on the ps3 fans and the reason that the stand alone hd-dvd player is outselling the BR standalone dvd player is because they are cheaper.
we been playing games on 2 disc for years but all of a sudden if you do it's no good and they only have about 5 to %10 of games that need extra space ,the truth is sony wasn't worried about the gamers they were worried about winning the format war because they figgured they won the game console war all ready.sony said before they released the ps3 that people would but their system even if it didn't have any games for it.
sony should've put BR in the ps3 and sold it for $400 then they would have been in the lead but instead they were cokkey and didn't care about the gamers because they thought they won already.
if one of the formats don't win in a few years then both will loose because they have a new format coming out at the end of next year that plays at 1080p but the movies and disc will be about the same price as regular dvds but the problem would be is if they could get movie support for it.
sony and tishiba doesn't give a damn about any of the fanboys,they could't care less if they die or live but they come on the net and post and take up for a format like they will get a percentage of the sales,they need to wake up because none of them will see a dime.
the reason that people take up for BR is because they are ps3 fans but if the ps3 had hd-dvd then they would say that BR isn't any good because hd-dvd is in the ps3 and that's a fact.the same go for hd-dvd fans,the reason that they don't like BR is because it's in the ps3 and sony owns it.
i still don't know what all the fuss is about because neither one is making a dent in the sell of regular dvds and on top of that you could buy a dvd player for $150 that upgrade regular dvds to 1080p hd quality but you have to pay $300 to a $1000 for a so call nextgen player and about $30 for a movie,so do the math,dvd is still the best opition at this time.
i'm not for any one of them now,but i've had always bought american made products when i can to help the american economy out,before we let china and japan start selling their products over here we were the richest country in the world but now we are in third place because mostly americans buying forign products instead of american,on top of that japan allow about 3/4 less of imports that they export to the U.S. and that's why they are getting richer to and an american can't own or be a part of a company in japan but japan own about 1/2 of the U.S and about 75% of the companies in the U.S and that's why they are the richest country in the world now.if we don't start supporting american products and companies soon then they will own us because they are half way there now now.
people could buy what they want but when they hope a forign company wins and an american company fail,their priorties isn't in the right place.if people sit down and think for a few minutes they would realize that when they buy forign products instead of american products then they are making the forign country richer and the U.S poorer.i know some people will say it's not true but all you have to do is study history and the trade act and they would see,now if they admit it or not i don't know but i'll still buy an american product over forign products any day of the week because i support the U.S any way i can,and i'm tired of the japanese laughing at us.
they said the reason they don't support american products is because they are proud of their country and companies in it and they buy their products to help their economy out but then they have the nerve to ask americans to buy their products and belive it or not they have a lot of americans that do and i think it's a shame but i'm like them i'm proud of my country to so they need to take their sh*t back.
we own them millions of $s and if they call in all the U.S debt to them then we will have to go bankrupt,henery rollings said that they have the U.S over a barrel with it's pants down dry fu***g it,and i belive him.
i listen many reason why they are richer and we are poorer and all of them together is killing the U.S

[The Brave 1]

With Spiderman 3 coming in less than a week,then the Disney movies,then the Die hard Trilogy,then Sony Pictures(Superbad)and then Pirates .Its gonna get a lot worse for HD-dvd.Even the ignorant fanboys know this

[jahcure]

Now HD-DVD has 0 chance of ever winning a week, at least this year. It was a nice try though, but it seems that the paramount deal did not work as well as they thought it would.

Tsk Tsk Tsk Paramount..counting numbers shipped and not numbers sold to pad numbers? I thought that this was a console maker's tactic.

[athlon770]

I mean they took money from Microsoft, why not take there tactics?

[arika]

WTF!!!! hahahahahahahahhahahahahahahha ! GO SONY! blueray all the way! just wait when bluerays big guns comeout! spiderman trilogy and pirates of caribbean trilogy! GAME OVER!!!!! hddvd your end is at hand. lets give it a few more months then adios amigos to hddvd..

[pwnsause]

seriously, especially when Blu-ray is going to have the almost the same capabilities as HD-DVD with Profile 1.1

[IdontTakeSides]

kk...so if Transformers can't tip the scale for HD-DVD atleast for a week...then im srry for that camp when October 30th arrives..!!

[KINGDRAMA]

exactly.

myself and a couple of others said this in the transformers thread. I and others knew how this situation would progress. ANYTHING with microsoft is just smoke and mirrors, dirt under the rug UNTIL THE TRUTH COMES OUT. TIME AND TIME AGAIN

spidey3:oct30

[ruibing]

What happens on the 30th?

[Fan Tastic]

"I didn't mean transformers, I meant the next title, umm yeah that is the one that will Win it all for HD DVD"

can't wait to hear Cucu say he is neutral again.

Paramount even had buy one get one free deals for HD DVD as did Sony.

edit: ooh mak it BIG and hoping that somebody might actually believe you are neutral. Every single post from you is crap.

Wet dreams about a little whiny girl making excuses for your format of choice, oh yes. We all want to be cuco too!

[cuco33]

Can't quite figure out if you are under 18 and had his mommy buy you a PS3 or just a dorky nerd supporting a brand as if it were your own.

I'm neutral.
As in NEUTRAL!
As in NOT A FANBOY of a format, just a FANBOY of movies in HIGH DEF. I point out facts wether good or bad from either side. Funny how you only point out whatever I mention negative for BD but never mention anything when I say positive about BD or negative for HD DVD. :rollseyes:
Welcome to the ignore button troll...

Looking at the whole picture, and I will continue doing as I see fit being NEUTRAL and pointing out the facts or discrepancies, I'll begin so you can nut a second faster.
- Why is Paramount's TF sold count (190k) different from this articles? (110k)
- How is winning sales market share numbers that doesn't include Amazon by small percentages proBD after they gave away a disc for every disc purchased (BOGO = buy one get one free, you pay for one, sale counts as 2 discs sold) all the while having 10 times the players? I've said it before, BD with the PS3 by itself should have decimated HD DVD but purple is the way (red AND blue, embrace both).
- If this format war was over, for the 5th time according to the BDA, then why is Walmart of all people, THE #1 movie media selling business, offering the HD-A2 at $198 in stores? Walmart isn't the type of company to go through all the trouble to pocket some cash for a short time. I think they know what is being embraced, both formats.
- Samsung has hinted at a dual format player that is fully capable of HD DVDs spec as well as BD's 1.1 profile. It has been said to be delayed possibly to fill in the 2.0 requirements. Priced right, this will sell and will pave the way for the masses to embrace HDM.
- Regardless of sales, HDM is still PITIFUL when compared to the real competition, DVD

[Lionsguard]

Paramount must be looking pretty stupid right now.

[wil4hire]

Well.. they made 150 million off the deal, I doubt Paramount cares.

People that can afford HDTV's can afford Bluray Players..
People that can afford HD-DVDplayers.. cant afford HDTV's...

[solidt12]

I am seeing the price of HD-DVD players dropping fast and I bet its because there is no demand. They are just trying to get rid of all these bricks. People who don't even have a HDTV yet will buy them at $199 for later only to have wasted there money.

[Snukadaman]

Things are going too get very interesting this holiday... I also "jumped in" the hd-dvd camp and will be buying 2-3 movies a month...may the best format win..or just join up in one bastard of a machine.

kingdrama...so do you really buy 4-7 blu-rays or are you just saying that...and for both of you...300 sold 250k blu-rays the first week..lets see spider man rake in those numbers or over.

[KINGDRAMA]

i buy about 4-7 Bluray movies a month depending on what comes out. Lately the transition from theaters to home is pretty short which is sweet. I have friends that buy along the same lines. in short hddvd is not looking so well.

At #9: im almost 90 percent sure it will. MARK my words. ratatouille is next.

[Longhornbevo]

Its very possible that Spiderman 3 will break Transformers record next week. I will be buying it.

[Bnet343]

blu ray sucks, hddvd sucks, Roger Ebert sucks because he said movies are better then games. video games are way better then movies. whoever submitted this needs to go back News4MovieWatchers.

[tethered]

Movies are better than games to people that don't play video games.
There are way, way more people that buy and rent movies than games so in a way he is right.

At $15 to $30 a pop for a movie and $60 for a new game its no wonder.

Anyway, to believe what you just said you would have to have an IQ of 70.

[stennexxx]

Well the movie came out on dvd hopefully it will come out blu-ray. For now i just watch the dvd on the PS3 upscaled. Screw you HD-DVD.

PS3 Rulez!

[Leon_Blu]

Just throw away the hd-dvd players or give it to charity. We only need one format. No one is buying that cheap crap anymore. Just wait 16 months youl get your transformers in blu-ray.

Its gonna be a blu-christmas thats for sure.

[So1id]

Great news for the Blu-Ray camp.

Despite Transformers grossing the second-most this summer (Spiderman 3 being the #1), and breaking records for first day/weeks sales on HD formats, HD-DVD as a whole still could not out-edge Blu-Ray.

If anything, the studios need to take notice of this. Blu-Ray still overcoming one of the biggest releases this holiday season with no notable releases for itself, and Spiderman 3, as well as Pirates 3, still on the way should speak volumes.

[cdzie1]

This story makes no mention of the fact that a large percentage of Blu-ray discs given away free as part of a “buy one get one free promotion” the BDA put on to counter Transformers.

If anything, the bigger story is the trick Blu-ray used to win this week’s sales numbers.

[snoop_dizzle]

i would agree that blurays are being given away like that, but aren't hddvds as well? I thought i have seen special offers for that as well.

[Lionsguard]

So a promotion is now all of a sudden a trick? But when HD-DVD does it it's a gift from God amirite? Cdzie I think you've run out of defenses and offenses. You should just shut off your pc and retire for the rest of your life. Your lack of determination is admirable but you no longer make sense. It's not like HD-DVD isn't pretty much handing out out free movies as well.

[Whoooop]

It's OK to let go buddy... I really understand you, it's not easy to fully support something that has no future.

You still have DVD to look forward to. With DVD you really have a reason to argue, but HDDVD??? mmmm don't waste that energy mate.

move on buddy move onnnn. :)

[cdzie1]

Just look at Blu-ray’s top 10 list tomorrow and you’ll see movies that haven’t been there in weeks or months, all part of the free disc promotion. The real flaw is that free discs are even tracked as sales.

[arika]

hey hddvd lover dont fool us with your ps3 trickery theory because all hddvd players also has that promo that when you buy an hddvd player you get 5 free hddvd giveaways! just go ahead guys and look at amazon or anywhere else. verify the facts buddy before you speak!

[Snukadaman]

each side gives you 2 extra dvd's when you purchase a player...lucky thing is the hd-dvd add on is counted as a player... in fact..here are the ads for both...

http://www.bestbuy.com/olsp...

http://www.walmart.com/cata...
oh...checking it out the blu-ray deal is worst..you cant pick the 2 movies you want...you get 2 extra movies in the box with the player...but lets face it...both formats are giving away free incentives...pretty soon they will be giving out 10 movies each..lol.

[KINGDRAMA]

U fail on so many levels. go kill yourself

[Joecrazy]

Blu-Ray spend money on promoting BOGO sell to encourage and increase the interest of people on buying Blu-Ray movies.

HD-DVD spending $150 Million to let Paramount not selling their movies to consumer which accounted for 60% of the HD movie market.

I think Blu-Ray had their money well spend.

[emaddox84]

Hmm, you can criticize the Blu-Ray camp for counting the promotional discs (even though HD-DVD does the same thing) all you want. But then while we're on the subject of supposedly skewing statistics, maybe the HD-DVD group should start counting PS3's in their player market share, especially when most PS3 owners also own/rent Blu-Rays. I mean, why would a PS3 owner buy a separate, so called stand alone player when they have a perfectly capable Blu-Ray player and DVD upscaler.

[hahahabutt]

BLU-RAY has added thier giving away free movies as part as sold discs. meaning that all those giveaway movies including the pirate give away that they throw out before Transformaers was released is being part of the discs sold. Meaning they really didnt sell those discs. they where give aways. Also Transformers on HD-DVD did do something. it proved to movie studios that HD-DVD format can acutally sell movies. Toshiba also gives away free movies but they do not add them on thier disc sold list. Why I know this?? first off my Uncle works for Disney video marketing, second of all he told me that HD-DVD is actually looking good. But as a whole he said both formats are losing the war against dvd. Thank you and good night.

[Lionsguard]

It doesn't prove that HD-DVD can sell movies, it proves that Transformers can sell movies. Oh and my uncle works for Disney too and he says HD-DVD is losing (see I can do it too!). Lastly This is the next-gen FORMAT war. One HD format has to win first and kill of the other before it can attack DVD as a whole force. The consumers want one single format so most are holding out until theres a winner.

[hahahabutt]

My uncles name Is Jefferson Taylor, See if im lieing now. He works for disney video company. I would not lie about this stuff.

[Whoooop]

who's your uncle Mickey Mouse?

[hahahabutt]

WOoooop your funny dude, but no i rather him be mickey mouse to be honest. never get to see him much since he is always on trips. but he gets annoying about this stuff so i just post what he tells me.. but thanks for the laugh.

[wangdiddy82]

spider man 3 will out sell transformers.. Transformers is over rated in my eyes.. Me and my GF were disappointed in the movie.. The story was dumb and cheesy.. There at hoover dam where megatron is than next thing you know there in a big a$$ city.. lol.. Im glad i didnt waste my money for this on high def and just rented the dvd at best buy..

The only cool thing about the movie was watching them transform and the special effects.. Other than that the Movie sucked..

Go watch 28 weeks later, That movie is sick yo..

[snoop_dizzle]

well uh spidey 3 kinda was as well. The barscene was just too much.

I admit though, both transformers and spidey were very cheezy.
but dude spidey 3? Spidey 1 or 2 i would say were good but not the third one. I'd say the same about the third prates movie. I liked the first two, but the last one just wasn't that good.

Edit.oh yeah it will sell no doubt. no disagreeing there. What he said just struck me funny.

[pwnsause]

so, spiderman 3 was overated also. it was all hype, none the less, it will sell.

[Snukadaman]

IF they do sell like some of you hope...

[hahahabutt]

I enjoyed the 1st and 2nd one way more then the 3rd.3rd was corny.

[cmrbe]

Man that was a cool movie. I like the fact the zombies are much more violent than the ones in RE. The next movie should be really cool.

[Whoooop]

Is anyone surprised about this??

[Vulcan Raven]

I dont think shrek 3 is going to turn the tide. hate to say it spidey is going to be one of the biggest selling hi-def movies ever.
Blueray all the way.

[KINGDRAMA]

http://www.forbes.com/techn...

http://seekingalpha.com/art...

@25: lol.......thats my girls MUST HAVES right there. shes a huge disney fan. i do wanna see ratatoullie, she swore to me id like it.

I agree disney makes mad cake.

[jaja1434]

I find it funny that there are more exuberant fanboys for BR/HD than for the PS3 and 360 combined...on a site devoted to gaming news...funny. ha ha.

[lodossrage]

I believe paramount believes as many of us do that blu-ray will be the victor.

You have to keep in mind that this hd dvd only is just for 18 months. What they're doing is milking the hd dvd camp for all it's worth. Then they'll really get that money flowing once the exclusive contract is up and they release all their hd dvd stuff on blu ray

Keep in mind that the hd dvd exclusive deal is TEMPORARY. Paramount knows exactly what they were doing.

That's just my opinion

[Kururo]

hd-dvd's big hitter makes 115,000. lets see how much spiderman 3 + spiderman trilogy sells on tuesday.

[Snukadaman]

even a half a million wont be such a impact if you think about it..you can be sure regular dvd will outsell what both have sold so far.

[arika]

i cant wait ill buy it when it comes out! well its starting to look like were gonna have a blue christmas all of a sudden.. spiderman trilogy! must buy! that is awesome! wooohooooo!

[bloodzombie77]

Even Michael Bay said so himself that he would've loved to see the number if it were either Blu exclusive or both. I would've too, given that had paramount not gone with the 150 mil...they'd could've made it back in Disc sales in no time.

[cmrbe]

Their biggest release this year failed to even help sold more HD-DVD than Blu-Ray for its release week. Adding to this is the fact that NA is the only market that is still has a chance because it dosent for the rest of the world.

[Bathyj]

So one overrated movies couldn't win it for the format that doesn't even have the directors backing. Well DERRR. Whats the big deal with Transformers anyway, it wasn't that good. I wont even get it on DVD right away. I can wait the month it takes for them to go half price.

BR is already kicking arse and the big guns arent even out yet, and I'm not talking about Spiderman.

Pixar start releasing movies soon starting with Cars and Ratatooie. Hopefully Nemo, Bugs life and the rest will all come out next year and these movies sell big man.

While Disneys at it, why not hurry up and get Lion King and some of your other animated greats out there. These are the sorts of movies BR was made for. I have just about every CGI BR available and they're awesome. Cant wait for FFVII:AC. Anime needs to get on board. Imagine the whole series of Samurai Champloo on one BR disc.

[pwnsause]

Not to Mention Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children(not a Disney Movie, I know). I heard they're rerendering the Models for BD. thats pretty cool! can't wait!

[cmrbe]

Transformers was ok but the acting was terrible except for the lead which was decent.They introduce too many characters with little to no revelance or significance to the movie trying to copy independence day formula but it failed. The action sequence were too fast to see as well which was a bummer.

[BSigel81]

SamuraiChamploo on bluray would be awesome, so would the Gundam, and Dragonball Z/GT series. Samuarai Champloo could fit on two disc with tons of extras. I would not even try to estimate DBZ/GT.

[pwnsause]

Jeez, I also keep forgeting about those 100gb disc coming out when they're ready, I would like to see the DBZ/GT series on BD

[ROCCOZILLA]

I GOT THE MOVIE ON REGULAR DVD AND IT LOOKS AS GOOD AS HD DVD WITH THE PS3 DVD UPSCALER.SO IF YOU HAVE A PS3 YOU HAVE A HD DVD PLAYER AND A BLU-RAY.

[SteinigerGE]

and c'mon, we all know that upscaled is not the same nor does it look the same as true 1080p. There is no upscaler on the market that can take one pixel and magically create all of surrounding pixels in the same way a 1080p source does. Got a pimple that's visible in 1080p? you won't see it on an upscaled source. If you do, it will have turned into a large, unsightly mole, 9 times as large as the original.

Something tells me you're watching on a 22" computer monitor. I prefer bluray too, but why do you insist on making yourself sound like an ignorant, AND SCREAMING fanboy? I won't but the Transformers HD-DVD either, but neither will I delude myself that the upscaled DVD looks as good as the HD-DVD!

[TheExodus]

In the wake of the Transformers release Blu-ray was only able to hold onto a 2 percent sales advantage over HD-DVD. Sony fanboys may still believe that Blu-ray has won the HD format war, but consumers are refusing to adopt Blu-ray even though Sony was kind enough to bundle a Blu-ray player into their PS3s for free!

[MK_Red]

"Paramount says Transformers HD-DVD sold 190,000 units while actual number is closer to 115,000" What does it say?

It says that Paramout is already screwed up and sad about their decision to go HD-DVD exclusive. By using false numbers (Near double) they just lose more credibility.

[Cherchez La Ghost]

And who said that these numbers presentated hear are not false also?!! I get a laugh everytime I read these threads.

[andy001]

Probably the usual shipped vs sold number discrepancy.

Ah, HD DVD, only in America would ignorant people get so passionate about an inferior technology, which is being supported by an organisation already proven to abuse competitors and consumers alike. The American Dream.

I say only in America, because HD DVD is virtually nowhere in Europe, and absolutely nowhere in Japan. Just that alone should prove that HD DVD is going nowhere globally, and will be a thorn in the side of a global marketplace until the minority of HD DVD supporters in America become mainstream and choose Blu ray.

Sorry if I caused any offense, but it is the truth.