I stopped posting the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD Nielson VideoScan data as soon as HD DVD officially called it quits. There really is no point in beating a dead horse, after all. The real battle now for Blu-ray is to take on standard DVD, which is in nearly every home in U.S. and in the majority of homes worldwide. This battle will certainly be far more difficult than beating HD DVD, but the sales data will actually be far more relevant as to how quickly Blu-ray is being adopted... and whether or not DVD sales are slowing as a result.
Comparing Blu-ray sales data to total DVD sales data is no easy task, however. The sheer volume of DVDs available in the retail market makes it nearly impossible to hypothesize with any accuracy how many total DVD discs are sold in any given week. Thus, Nielson VideoScan has chosen to compare only the Top 20 selling DVDs to the Top 20 Blu-ray Discs to track Blu-ray vs. DVD sales. While this method results in interesting results for comparing the top selling discs on both formats, it is inherently biased towards Blu-ray as it is comparing an equal number of titles on both formats. Whilst Blu-ray has nearly 500 titles released in the U.S., DVD has tens of thousands of released titles.
Still, here are the results:
Source: Nielson VideoScan via www.homemediamagazine.com
As you can see, at least among the top titles, Blu-ray actually represents a fairly significant chunk of sales already. 8% of unit sales is really nothing to laugh at, especially as the revenue generated by each Blu-ray Disc sale is considerably higher than that earned by each DVD sold -- both by the studio and by the retailer. While many Blu-ray owners are upset by the higher cost of Blu-ray Discs at retail stores, the stores and studios are VERY happy with the current pricing situation. As the popularity of Blu-ray grows, pricing will come down, but studios and retailers will do their best to avoid selling discs in $5 "bargain bins" for as long as possible.
Source: Nielson VideoScan via www.homemediamagazine.com
Looking at the the Blu-ray bestsellers for the week, we can see that, as expected, the newest releases (I Am Legend, No Country for Old Men, and Enchanted) topped the list. What is somewhat surprising, however, is how well much older titles (Pirates of the Caribbean 1 &2, Terminator 2, and Apocalypto) did last week. Although it would certainly be best to see player sales data directly, this certainly implies that many new Blu-ray Disc player owners were buying titles to start their collections last week, a very good sign for the format.
It should also be noted that the above chart technically represents the Top 10 Blu-ray and HD DVD discs for last week... however, the now deceased HD DVD format failed to get a single title into the Top 10 despite many stores offering titles at significant discounts on their remaining stock as they clear out remaining inventory. Certainly, that could also be seen as a significant victory for Blu-ray, though continuing to beat up a dead format is not something I intend to continue doing.
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