Blu-ray Title Sales Shrink as DVD Share Grows


Blu-ray's share of the video-disc market shrunk to its lowest level in recent months, pulling in only about 8 percent compared to standard DVD movie and TV titles, for the third week of February.

Blu-ray title sale percentages had climbed into the low-to mid-teens for much of late 2009 and the early part of the new year, but have yet to show a sustainable rise — despite the fact that price points have continued falling on both Blu-ray's 1080p packaged content and Blu-ray players. In a counter-trend week for standard DVD titles, the older format actually increased in sales over a comparable period a year earlier.

For the week ending Feb. 21, Blu-ray's 8-percent share amounted to about $18.6 million in revenue (up nearly 40 percent over a year ago), while standard DVD revenue climbed past $220 million (up more than 15 percent) to achieve its 92-percent share, according to Home Media Research.

Yet overall, it was good news for the video-disc market, which registered a combined revenue spurt of nearly 17 percent over mid-February of 2009.