Blu-ray vs. HD DVD: Nielson VideoScan Comparison for Week Ending 7/29/07

 

Every week Home Media Magazine reports the latest Nielson VideoScan numbers for the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD battle.  They include three figures: Weekly, Year-to-date, and Since Inception.  Weekly numbers examine discs sold at retail over the course of just the current week, the YTD numbers look at sales from the first week ending in 2007 to the present, and the since inception numbers show the relative performance of Blu-ray and HD DVD discs since the formats' respective births.

Nielson VideoScan Data for Week Ending 7/29/07

Source: Nielson VideoScan via http://www.homemediamagazine.com/

Weekly sales: Blu-ray leads HD DVD 66% to 34%, 100:51.5, or 1.94:1

YTD sales: Blu-ray leads HD DVD 67% to 33%, 100:49.3, or 2.03:1

Since Inception sales: Blu-ray leads HD DVD 60% to 40%, 100:66.7, or 1.5:1

In a week with no big Blu-ray releases and a total of 12 new HD DVD titles in stores, Blu-ray still manages to outsell its rival about 2:1.  If HD DVD had a chance at taking back the pie charts, this week was it.  And yet they weren't even able to get more than half of the Blu-ray sales on the weekly chart.

 

Nielson VideoScan Top 10 for Week Ending 7/29/07

Source: Nielson VideoScan via http://www.homemediamagazine.com/

Although HD DVD took the top spot with the just-released "Bourne Identity," Blu-ray still retained 8 of the Top 10 spots -- mainly on the strength of existing titles such as "Planet Earth," "Casino Royale," and both "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies.

The real fun will come next week when the initial numbers for "300" come out.  The HD DVD version has been praised by many for its exclusive interactive features, however reports are coming from everywhere that it is the Blu-ray release that is sold out at stores across the country.  Online mega e-tailer Amazon.com has sold out of the Blu-ray version multiple times this week, only to get "restocked" with only a few hundred copied, making one wonder if Warner is attempting to prop up the HD DVD sales for next week by limiting availability of the Blu-ray version.