Driven by lower prices and more HDTVs in homes, Blu-ray player sales are on the rise in the US.
The data, reported by PC World, comes from market research firm the NPD Group. First quarter 2009 Blu-ray player sales jumped 72 percent over the same period last year, with 400,000 units sold.
The report doesn't say how many HDTVs are in homes, but Nielsen data from November puts the figure at 23.3 percent. An earlier study by Leichtman Research Group estimated 34 percent. Either way, there's no debate that more homes are adopting HD over time.
As for Blu-ray prices, NPD Group says the average selling price for a player dropped from $393 in the first quarter of 2008 to $261 during the same period this year, and those costs continue to decline.
NPD Group analyst Ross Rubin said that "Blu-ray is carrying forward the widespread appeal of DVD into the high-definition marketplace," even as options for downloadable media expand. While downloads require a small amount of technical know-how and a proper set-up for watching on TV, Blu-ray is just as straightforward as a DVD.
Earlier this year, we had a good discussion of Blu-ray's viability, based on revenue figures from 2008. The stats revealed that, in terms of revenue, Blu-ray last year was roughly where DVD was in 1999. To follow the same track as DVD, Blu-ray will have to jump from $750 million in revenues in 2008 to $2.5 billion this year. Perhaps the rise in player sales will prove the catalyst.
