High definition DVD player sales disappoint

Players sell less than half of expected numbers

Sales of high-definition DVD players have so far failed to meet expectations, thanks to delays, consumer concerns over the competing standards and the growing trend of downloading programmes.

The Consumer Electronics Association in the US had predicted that around 600,000 HD devices would be sold this year in America, but now expects this number to be less than half. It has revised figures to 275,000 units sold, with the majority being HD-DVD players.

Sean Wargo, director of industry analysis at the CEA, commented: “We assumed there would be different brands of each player on the market, but there have been a lot of delays, particularly with Blu-ray.”

Figures are not yet available for the split between HD-DVD and Blu-ray sales, but early progress for the former is in part down to its price, which is far lower than that of an equivalent Blu-ray player.

In Europe, Sony has delayed its Playstation 3 – which comes with a Blu-ray player- until spring 2007, and is not expected to make its DVD player available here until then either.

The company claimed that the PS3 would make Blu-ray the dominant format, with over six million units in homes worldwide by spring. That prediction will now fall far short.

With the two standards camps remaining polarised, and little hope of a universal Blu-ray and HD-DVD player anytime soon (if at all), consumers in the US have taken a ‘wait and see’ attitude, and Europeans could follow suit. This would help the Blu-ray camp, giving it the chance to still make the standard the dominant format, all be it by the back door of the PS3.

But Wargo said "we would expect the lower-priced product to sell the most volume” and at the moment, HD-DVD is seen as offering better value by many consumers.

However, he added, if Blu-ray has better content combined with strong PS3 sales, it may give that format the edge.

And a less expected dampener on HD player sales has been downloadable movies. Consumers have already shown that they are willing to accept slightly poorer quality with mp3s, and Wargo believes that may be the case for films as well, where people would rather watch DVD-quality downloads because of their convenience.

“It won’t kill HD, but it will have an affect,” he said.