Blu-ray players are becoming a hot item in the living room, but they have yet to attract much attention in the office, according to a new report from iSuppli.
The market research firm found that 3.6 percent of PCs shipped in 2009 will feature Blu-ray players. By 2013, the company expects 16.3 percent of PCs to sport a high-def drive. During that period, DVDs will still reign supreme.
"BDs won't be replacing DVDs as the primary optical drive in PC systems through at least the year 2013," Michael Yang, senior analyst for storage and mobile memory at iSuppli said in a statement. "They eventually will find success, but during the next five years, that success will be limited in the PC segment."
iSuppli believes that Blu-ray's lack of adoption in the PC market is centered on two main factors: a relatively small number of available movies and the cost of adding a Blu-ray drive to PCs. iSuppli said its findings suggest consumers will be more likely to add Blu-ray drives to their PCs once the cost of those drives decreases.
Although the results weren't ideal for the Blu-ray Disc Association, iSuppli said that they're not uncommon. According to the company, new media formats in PCs have enjoyed success only when the cost has decreased to a suitable level. That success also depends on whether or not consumers feel the technology's value proposition is high enough.
iSuppli cited the 3.5-inch floppy's 15-year lifespan as proof that consumers will use media as long as they perceive value. Currently, those same consumers believe there is more value derived from DVD drives.
... Read moreDon Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Once the major force behind the failed HD DVD format, Toshiba may finally be launching its own Blu-ray player, according to a report in Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun.
Toshiba, which lost the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray battle in early 2008, is reportedly readying a player that will read both Blu-ray discs and DVDs and will appear in stores by year's end.
Quoting unnamed sources, Yomiuri Shimbun reported over the weekend that Toshiba had been thinking of developing yet another technology to combat Blu-ray but gave up the ghost because of the huge growing market for Blu-ray players and discs.
The company will start with play-only models but may consider a recordable Blu-ray player if market demand calls for it, the newspaper said. Toshiba's entry into the Blu-ray arena would mark the last holdout among all the major electronics manufacturers.
Toshiba fought long and hard in its two-year battle promoting HD DVD over Blu-ray, finally admitting defeat in early last year. Since then, the tech world has wondered if and when Toshiba would unveil a Blu-ray player.
Online research firm Futuresource released a study Monday that discussed the relative success Blu-ray is enjoying right now in Western Europe.
According to the report, Blu-ray disc sales are up significantly in Europe so far this holiday season, and based on its findings, it believes the strong sales will continue through 2009. In fact, it believes European Blu-ray sales will triple during 2009, seeing 2.5 million players enter homes next year. Similar results are being witnessed in the U.S.
But that's not all. A release last week claimed the latest Batman film, The Dark Knight, witnessed sales of 1.7 million Blu-ray units, representing the most popular Blu-ray title of all-time.
Quite impressive, eh? Well, what if I told you that worldwide combined DVD and Blu-ray sales of The Dark Knight totaled 13.5 million units? Suddenly, that 1.7 million Blu-ray unit mark doesn't look so hot next to the 11.8 million DVDs that were sold, huh?
Of course, we shouldn't expect Blu-ray to catch up anytime soon. According to Futuresource in a study it released earlier this year, Blu-ray isn't expected to outsell DVD until 2012. And even then, Blu-ray will control just a bit more than 50 percent of media sales with DVD coming in around 45 percent to 50 percent. In other words, DVDs will still be a major force four years from now.
Based on all that information, can we honestly sit here and say that Blu-ray has a chance at becoming the success DVD is?
I just don't see it.
... Read moreDon Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Updated at 9:15 a.m. PDT with background on the DVD format wars.
Research firm In-Stat has declared a "winner" in the DVD format wars between Blu-ray and HD DVD. And the winner is...
Blu-ray.
In-Stat, in a research report released Wednesday, noted that the Blu-ray and HD DVD format war ended in the early part of the year, and that Blu-ray recorder and player sales are expected to reach 5 million by the end of the year.
With the death of HD DVD earlier this year, some took it a step further, saying Blu-ray's top-dog spot may be short-lived should digital downloads replace the need for Blu-ray discs. But for now, Blu-ray is expected to enjoy its position.
In February, Toshiba said it would stop making HD DVD products, following a two-year war between the HD DVD and Blu-ray formats. Shortly thereafter, the three movie studios that were then still supporting HD DVD withdrew their support and declared they would get behind Blu-ray.
Sales of DVD players and recorders worldwide hit 142 million units last year, according to the market research firm. This year, In-Stat expects a decline in the DVD hardware market because of saturation in some markets and also because DVD recorders failed to grab consumers' interest as DVD players did.
What isn't clear is whether Blu-ray's growth will make up for the decline of HD DVD sales by the time digital downloads of movies become pervasive.
Blu-ray's adoption rate is hampered by the price of the players, according to In-Stat.
Two years ago, a Toshiba DVD player cost $500 to $800, while the cheapest Blu-ray player ran nearly $1,000.
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