HD-DVD Movie Sales Only 2k Behind Blu-ray
The recent pres-release-bickering between the HD-DVD and Blu-ray camps isn't terribly new, though most previous spats have gone down in the midst of large trade shows. The most recent squabbling began when HD-DVD celebrated the format's birthday by announcing that 100,000 dedicated players had been sold, preserving the format's hardware lead, not counting the PlayStation 3 (story). Blu-ray fired back, announcing that Blu-ray movie sales had reached the 1,000,000-sold milestone, and added a little salt to the wound with the data that 70-percent of Q1 HD-movie sales were thanks to Blu-ray (story).
Today, HD-DVD's representatives from Webersh & Wick public relations wrote to IGN Gear directly with updated HD-DVD news. According to their figures, HD-DVD movie sales lag only 2,000 units behind Blu-ray with 998,059 units sold. The firm points out that pre-orders of Planet Earth and The Matrix Trilogy will propel HD-DVD over the million-mark quite shortly. Representatives also stated that hardware sales have continued with strength in April, maintaining a 4 to 1 margin over Blu-ray.
Though consumers would likely benefit to a resolution to this format war sooner rather than later, it's looking like the struggle may continue for quite some time. The upshot of it all, however, will be a long and amusing PR battle. Honestly, it's rare in technology to get this much back-and-forth in claims, counter claims, dueling sales statistics, and one sided announcements of victory, so kick back and enjoy it, maybe while rocking some undeniably pretty 1080p movies on the format of your choice.
The recent pres-release-bickering between the HD-DVD and Blu-ray camps isn't terribly new, though most previous spats have gone down in the midst of large trade shows. The most recent squabbling began when HD-DVD celebrated the format's birthday by announcing that 100,000 dedicated players had been sold, preserving the format's hardware lead, not counting the PlayStation 3 (story). Blu-ray fired back, announcing that Blu-ray movie sales had reached the 1,000,000-sold milestone, and added a little salt to the wound with the data that 70-percent of Q1 HD-movie sales were thanks to Blu-ray (story).
Today, HD-DVD's representatives from Webersh & Wick public relations wrote to IGN Gear directly with updated HD-DVD news. According to their figures, HD-DVD movie sales lag only 2,000 units behind Blu-ray with 998,059 units sold. The firm points out that pre-orders of Planet Earth and The Matrix Trilogy will propel HD-DVD over the million-mark quite shortly. Representatives also stated that hardware sales have continued with strength in April, maintaining a 4 to 1 margin over Blu-ray.
Though consumers would likely benefit to a resolution to this format war sooner rather than later, it's looking like the struggle may continue for quite some time. The upshot of it all, however, will be a long and amusing PR battle. Honestly, it's rare in technology to get this much back-and-forth in claims, counter claims, dueling sales statistics, and one sided announcements of victory, so kick back and enjoy it, maybe while rocking some undeniably pretty 1080p movies on the format of your choice.
