MFDigital CD DVD Information Library
Monday, October 26, 2009
 
Blu-ray Disc Software Sales Up 83 Percent
Blu-ray Disc software sales continue to show a growth with overall sales up 83 percent for the year.

The Digital Entertainment Group released third quarter U.S. sales figures for the home entertainment industry today. Consumer spending for the third quarter of 2009 in the home entertainment window for pre-recorded entertainment, which includes DVD, Blu-ray Disc and digital distribution, was off slightly at $4 billion, down by 3.2 percent compared to the same period last year. Blu-ray Disc software sales continue to show dramatic growth with overall sales up 83 percent for the year and playback devices in 11.7 million U.S. households. The DEG also announced that consumer transactions for all home entertainment products were up 6.6 percent for the third quarter compared to the same period last year.

Blu-ray Disc software sales continue to show dramatic growth with overall sales up 83 percent for the year and playback devices in 11.7 million U.S. households. The DEG also announced that consumer transactions for all home entertainment products were up 6.6 percent for the third quarter compared to the same period last year.

Overall, the home entertainment window continues to show ongoing stability given the current economic environment. Although consumer spending on sell-through packaged media was down 13.9 percent in the third quarter, Blu-ray was up 66.3 percent to $161 million compared to the same period last year (up 83 percent year-to-date to $568 million). Digital distribution (including both video-on-demand and electronic sell-through) was up 18 percent for the quarter to $420 million (up 20 percent year-to-date to $1.4 billion). Furthermore, according to Rentrak Corporation?s Home Video Essentials, rental spending was up 9.9 percent for the quarter, with Blu-ray rental spending up 44.5 percent.

"We are pleased to see an uptick in the number of consumer transactions indicating a continuing strong demand for home entertainment product," said Ron Sanders, President, DEG and President, Warner Home Video. "We are also encouraged by the dramatic growth of Blu-ray and the increases in digital distribution and rental in the third quarter." Blu-ray is accounting for 12 percent of all theatrical new release sales in the third quarter. The year's best selling Blu-ray Disc title "X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment) and Watchmen" (Warner Home Video) have each approached or surpassed 30 percent of consumer spending on Blu-ray Disc. According to figures compiled by Swicker and Associates on behalf of the DEG, more than 17 million Blu-ray Discs shipped to retail in the third quarter of the year, an increase of 35 percent over the same period last year.

According to figures compiled by the DEG based on data from CEA, retailers and manufacturers, Blu-ray Disc playback devices sold 3.3 million units through the first three quarters of 2009, an increase of 13 percent over same period last year. Through the first three quarters of 2009, Blu-ray Disc set-top player sales grew 112 percent over same period last year. Blu-ray playback device households are nearly 11.7 million and include PlayStation 3 consoles, along with a variety of set-top players that are available as either stand along models or combined with home theater systems. Approximately 80 percent of Blu-ray devices are BD-Live capable.

According to figures compiled by the DEG based on data from CEA, retailers and manufacturers, approximately four million HDTVs were sold to consumers in the third quarter of 2009 and nearly 12 million sold in the first three quarters of the year. Household penetration of HDTVs in the U.S. is nearly 45 million, representing almost 40 percent of all U.S. households. Approximately 29 percent of all HDTV owners have more than one set.


Source: CDRinfo

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- posted by MF Digital Marketing @ 12:51 PM
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
 
Inexpensive Blu-Ray Players to Hit U.S. Shelves
According to the latest industry information, Blu-Ray players are expected to hit the $99 barrier somewhere next year.

The average selling price of Blu-ray players has been falling steadily -- it's now about $200 -- and there's little doubt that prices will keep dropping as Blu-ray goes mainstream and player shipments increase. But one report says the average price for entry-level Blu-ray players may to drop to as little as $99 in the very near future.

According to a Blu-ray.com report, Chinese manufacturers are preparing to enter the market for the high-definition video players, and this development could mean very aggressive prices for low-end Blu-ray hardware. The Blu-ray Disc Association recently began licensing Blu-ray technology in China, a move that has led Samsung marketing director Mark Leathan to speculate that $99 players aren't far off, the report states.

"Black Friday, maybe. It's entirely possible you could see a few players down at that price level," says Baker, who adds that it's a little early to speculate about holiday prices. The industry will have a better idea of holiday pricing by mid-summer.

Another issue is just how stripped down those entry-level Blu-ray players might be. It's unlikely that established players such as Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony will sell sub-$100 Blu-ray players, but rather they'll leave the low end to the Chinese upstarts and other value-sector brands like Magnavox and Sylvania, the Blu-ray.com report says.

Source: CDRinfo

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- posted by MF Digital Marketing @ 3:15 PM
Monday, January 26, 2009
 
Sony opens Blu-ray plant in China
Just two months after Sony Pictures Home Entertainment announced it will begin to offer select Blu-ray movies to the Chinese market, Sony has opened a Blu-ray manufacturing plant in Shanghai, China.

Sony will work with the Shanghai Media Group to produce up to 500,000 Blu-ray discs per month at the 130,000 square foot facility. The Japanese electronics company hopes to have 200 full-time employees working at the new facility as soon as possible.

At least 32 Blu-ray movie titles are already available in China, with Sony aiming to have 100 released before the end of 2009. Sony already has Blu-ray disc plants in the United States, Japan and Austria.

Sony's likely going to have to restructure and cut more jobs, and the Chinese market is flooded with $1 illegal DVDs, so it will be interesting to see if both companies involved will be able to convince consumers to spend up to $30 per Blu-ray disc.

Having a manufacturing plant in the country will allow Sony to better combat piracy by avoiding import permits and taxes while also releasing movies to consumers faster. Blu-ray is growing in the country, with Pioneer, Panasonic and Sony importing Blu-ray players into the market -- China Hualu also has three Blu-ray players that have been made inside China.


Source: CDRFreaks

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- posted by MF Digital Marketing @ 1:12 PM
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
 
Blu-ray recorders outpace DVD in Japan
The market share for Blu-ray disc recorders has finally taken control of more than 50 percent of the consumer market in Japan, according to new recent numbers compiled by GfK Retail and Technology.

In April 2002, DVD recorders had 10 percent of the Japanese market share, and continued to pick up steam up until 2008. Now that the price of Blu-ray recorders has finally started to drop, expect sales numbers to begin to pick in other parts of the world besides Japan.

During the first week of June 2008, the average cost of Blu-ray recorders ranged from $1,100 up to $1,300. GfK Retail and Technology indicates the average price is now below $1,000.

The demand for the Blu-ray recorders has accelerated due to the popularity of flat panel TVs, which have seen a higher level of demand as of late. During the Thanksgiving week, including Black Friday, U.S. shoppers purchased almost 150,000 standalone Blu-ray players, spending $30 million. Video Business said that figure is three times the sales numbers from a week prior to Thanksgiving, when Blu-ray players were still had an average price of $240.

The sales numbers for Black Friday and Cyber Monday were helped when Blu-ray players like the Samsung BD-P1500 and Sony BDP-S350 were available for $199 during the shopping weekend, when both players retail for $249. Many of you indicated you want prices on Blu-ray players to drop below $200 on average, with the cost of Blu-ray movies competing with DVD prices.

Source: CDRFreaks

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- posted by MF Digital Marketing @ 10:56 AM
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
 
Taiyo Yuden Showcases 4x LTH Blu-ray Media
Taiyo Yuden had on display at the Ceatec show in Japan the industry's first LTH Blu-ray media that support recording at 4x.

The LTH write-once BD-R media feature an organic dye recording layer, making them different that the currently available BD-R discs that use inorganic materials. The "Low to High" (LTH, in groove recording) specifications for recording at 2x/4x have been released by the Blu-ray Disc Association.

Taiyo Yuden's second generation of BD-R LTH discs will be also supporting recording at 2x. They are expected in the market in the end of the year.

Current Blu-Ray drives and recorders cannot read the LTH BD-R discs. That because the reproduced signal while reading the discs has a LTH (Low to High) polarity. However, new hardware as well as firmware upgrades to existing players/recorders could add support for LTH recording.

The advantages of the LTH manufacturing technology is that it can be applied without requiring large-scale manufacturing plant investments, allowing for using modified CD-R and DVD-R manufacturing equipment.

Mitsubishi Kagaku Media and Hitachi Maxell are also expected to release LTH BD-Rs this year. Pioneer and Mitsubishi Chemical Media fist announced the development of the first LTH discs last year. Fuji Photo Film is also expected to release LTH BD-R discs this year.

Source: CDRinfo

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- posted by MF Digital Marketing @ 1:20 PM
Monday, July 21, 2008
 
Blu-ray year-to-June sales up 300% over 2007
In the first six months of this year, consumer purchasing of DVD and Blu-ray discs generated $10.1 billion in sales combined, which remains unchanged over the same 2007 period despite the hard economic times the movie industry is bracing for. The studios give credit to the growing sales of Blu-ray for keeping up the overall sales, with $200 million worth of Blu-ray movie sales in the first 6 months of the year, up 300% over the same period in 2007, according to this Video Business report.

According to 20th Century Fox's president Mike Dunn, Blu-ray sales now accounts for 8% of its overall movie sales. The studio expects this figure to reach between 10% and 12% by the end of the year. He also mentioned that retailers have widened their movie retail space by 5% to cater for Blu-ray discs, without cutting back on their existing DVD retail space either. The Sony president, David Bishop also commented on the growing Blu-ray sections in major retail stores.

Source: CDFreaks

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- posted by MF Digital Marketing @ 11:04 AM