HD-DVD Players Out-Selling Blu-ray

When Blockbuster decided to go pro-Blu-ray, consumers all over jumped to conclusions. Myself included. Things looked grim for HD-DVD, but Toshiba laughed at everyone and has continued to push out impressive numbers. According to recent reports from the NPD group, HD-DVD player sales have outpaced Blu-ray’s offerings with the help of certain exclusives, such as the Transformers.

Those looking for a true winner out of the two formats will be waiting a while. With both flip flopping each other in sales, it’s going to take something extreme for one of them to die off. Neither will go down with a fight, thanks to the fact that both are backed by deep wallets. Though it wouldn’t be an ideal situation, it’s more likely that everyone will end up having both players down the road, since they are constantly becoming cheaper.

Year to date figures show HD DVD sales comprising 53% of sales, with Blu-ray trailing at 44%. Note the figures don’t take into consideration PS3 sales, though the release did state that Toshiba’s expected sales of over 5 million HD DVD PC and notebook drives in fiscal 2008 would make them competitive with the PlayStation 3.

Source: Kotaku