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One week after Warner Bros announcement: Blu-ray takes market |
Listed in: PS3, Xbox 360 Tags: gaming accessories, Toshiba
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Warner Bros. Entertainment made waves earlier this month when it announced that it will no longer support the HD DVD format and will release all their hi-def titles exclusively on Blu-ray. A week later, Blu-ray hardware captured the market.
According to the NPD Group, Blu-ray hardware took 90% of the market after Warner's announcement; before, the market was split 50-50 between Blu-ray and HD DVD. While this is good news for Blu-ray, it may be too early for the fat lady to sing her arias.
Stephen Baker, NPD VP for industry sales, remarks that data for only one week shouldn't be read into too much: "One week is not a trend. It's a data point." Toshiba, one of the major HD DVD manufacturers, shares the same sentiment.
Toshiba feels the sales data for that week doesn't mean much. For one thing, sales of HD DVD players dropped because the company just ended a Christmas discount. Along with this, Blu-ray players were being given away with sales of certain flat panel TVs.
However, Warner's decision to go Blu-ray certainly did shake things up for Toshiba. Its entry-level HD-A3 player now sells for US$ 149.99, a whopping drop from US$ 299. Says Andy Parson, chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association:
Consumers have gotten the message loud and clear. Lowering prices sends the message that Toshiba is having a fire sale. [...] I donÂ’t see market share going back to 50-50. That I will bet a lot of money on.
So was the data for that week just a blip in the charts, or the first in a landslide of things to come? You can bet the console war is also waiting on the full effects of the format war, as its outcome relies on which format wins. We'll keep you posted.
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