According
to analysts participating at the Home Entertainment Summit: DVD and
Beyond this week, standard DVD sales are down this year and sales for
the year will remain flat thanks to next gen DVDs, namely Blu ray and
HD DVD...
The analysts noted that "the disc gold rush days are long past", especially now that there is an 80% market penetration for DVD hardware.
“[The year could end] up flat, or slightly up, depending on the degree to which high-def takes off,” noted Kelly Avery, president of worldwide home entertainment at Paramount Pictures.
According to Screen Digest, gamers will have some impact on HD sales in the future, mainly due to the decent sales of the PlayStation 3 and its built in Blu ray drive. According to the group, by 2010, there will be 45 million next-gen consoles sold worldwide with many of those being the PS3. In the same period, there will be 30 million next gen stand alone players sold, with most of those being HD DVD players.
Blu-ray discs are expected to outsell HD DVD discs by a 1.7-to-1 ratio by 2010" added Screen Digest!
Source: VB