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With Format War Over, Blu-ray Still Challenged By Low HDTV Penetration and Modest Awareness
(Business and Technology News, 09 Apr 2008 )
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Interpret, LLC, a media research firm, has found that the success of Blu-ray Disc remains challenged by low HDTV penetration and modest format awareness. The UK and US lead the market: UK HDTV penetration closely follows US (35 percent UK, 39 percent US), and the majority of UK and US consumers are aware of Blu-ray Disc (56 percent UK, 60 percent US). Japan has moderate Blu-ray awareness (45 percent) and HDTV penetration (28 percent), but Blu-ray hardware penetration matches UK and US at 9 percent.
Interpret's research shows that France and Germany pose greater challenges to the format, with HDTV penetration low in both countries (18 percent Germany, 21 percent France). While Blu-ray awareness is moderate in Germany (49 percent), only 3 in 10 consumers in France (30 percent) have ever heard of Blu-ray Disc.
In the US, UK, and Japan, Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD owners continue to buy standard definition DVDs. In the US, hi-def disc buy rates outpace standard def (8.7 vs. 7.7 in the past 6 months), but the reverse is true in the UK (11.4 standard, 7.9 hi def) and Japan (5.3 standard, .6 hi-def). Increased title availability may be the key to increasing Blu-ray buy rates.
"Winning the format war was just the first step for Blu-ray. Now, movie studios worldwide need to work together to address the structural challenges to the format's growth," Michael Dowling, CEO, Interpret said. "The UK, US, and Japan represent opportunities to grow the Blu-ray installed base quickly. In France and Germany, studios will need to work in parallel with HDTV manufacturers to more rapidly grow the HDTV installed base first."
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