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The HD format war may be long over, with Sony’s Blu-ray crowned as the industry standard after putting Toshiba’s rival HD-DVD platform to the sword back in February of this year, but a new study has revealed that Blu-ray is still struggling to make its mark as ‘the next big thing.’
New survey reveals Blu-ray is failing to find consumer popularity. Image: Sony/Blu-ray.
According to a recent survey conducted by ABI Research, prospective consumers are still largely reticent when it comes to shifting from mainstay DVD over to the high-definition advantages provided by Blu-ray.
Figures taken from the survey, which covered 1,000 respondents and their purchasing plans over the next 12 to 24 months, revealed that more than 50 percent said they had “other priorities” to deal with in life and had no plans whatsoever to invest in the Blu-ray platform.
A further 23 percent claimed that although they were likely to buy into Sony’s HD format at some point, it would not be something they would throw money at this year.
By way of response, ABI Research offered that Blu-ray’s continuing lack of market performance is likely down to the majority of consumers being unable to discern a clear quality distinction between standard definition DVD and high-definition Blu-ray -- a point compounded by costing aspects that require consumers to purchase a HDTV in order to fully appreciate what Blu-ray has to offer.
“Consumers were happy to embrace standard DVD when that format arrived because the improvement in quality over VHS videotapes was dramatic. Standard DVD didn’t require the purchase of a new TV either,” commented ABI’s principal analyst Steve Wilson, who went on to say that “most [consumers] are very satisfied with the performance of their current DVD players.”
That perspective is supported by the survey itself, which saw 40 percent of those polled describing Blu-ray’s quality as “much better” than standard DVD, while another 40 percent only categorised its apparent enhancements as “somewhat better.”
The survey also revealed that Blu-ray’s high pricing is serving to keep adoptive consumers in a state of cautious non-committal, with many not yet keen on the platform given the accompanying need for a high-definition television.
And hardware price drops don’t look imminent either, with ABI predicting that upper-tier player prices will remain above $300 USD at least until the close of 2008.
One plus point for Blu-ray emerges through Sony’s PlayStation 3 videogames console, which comes equipped with an onboard Blu-ray player as standard. ABI notes that increasing popularity attributed to Sony’s home console “will go a long way to help bring down manufacturing costs and drive down Blu-ray player prices.”
It’s also worth noting that the PlayStation 3’s bundled player is largely considered to be the best slice of Blu-ray currently available. For example, the boffins at tech magazine CNET hold the PS3’s player at the top of their Blu-ray player listing and use the console as a review yardstick whenever new Blu-ray hardware is released.
“It’s the best Blu-ray player we’ve tested so far,” enthuses CNET’s Crave, “plus you get a high-def gaming console and a well-featured media streamer for $400.”
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