For the week ended November 9, Blu-ray Disc sales accounted for only 8% of home video sales versus 92% for DVD per numbers released by Home Media Retailing today. In the past several months, Blu-ray had accounted for anywhere from 10 to 15 percent of all sales.
Compared to the previous week, Blu-ray sales were 10.04% percent versus a 0.25% increase in sales for DVD.
The nation’s current economic crisis is clearly having an impact on Blu-ray growth. A small segment of consumers on the fence who may have been lured into Blu-ray are forced into sticking with the cheaper alternative.
Despite these numbers, we expect Blu-ray’s market share to reach its former levels again as the month wears on. Sales leading into Black Friday will drop the price of standalone players to the lowest they’ve ever been. On the software side, a number of big releases like Wall-E, Tropic Thunder and Kung Fu Panda are not included through November 9.
New numbers through November 16 will be updated a week from today.
